


A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)

by SpicyPepper_SweetSugar



Series: The Blink Series [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (TV), The Walking Dead - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Road Trip, Romance, Sequel to in The Blink Of An Eye, There shall be smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-04-25 00:56:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 10
Words: 51,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4940515
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpicyPepper_SweetSugar/pseuds/SpicyPepper_SweetSugar
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Beth and Daryl are finally together but new adventures and challenges lie ahead of them. [Sequel to "Blink". Rated M for Mature content. I still suck at summaries. What's new?]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone! I am back with the sequel for In The Blink Of An Eye, FINALLY!
> 
> I know, I know, I didn't even warn you guys that it might be coming up soon, but honestly, I wasn't planning on posting anything until the Walking Dead premiered with season 6. So, I'm being a good girl and giving this to you guys as an early present, but I have some more information about this story, which I'll put in the ending note of this first chapter!
> 
> Oh, and I just remembered that I never even announced the title of this one! Well, not you know! "A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)" is what it's called and just like Blink, this one will officially be shortened "Breath" whenever I post any news about it!
> 
> For those of you who are new readers, I suggest you look up the first story first, because otherwise this story might not make any sense... I think... And also, note that this story is rated M from the very beginning, so you have been warned!
> 
> Now, please enjoy and ignore any minor spelling mistakes that may have sneaked their way in there! ;)

# A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)

## Chapter 1

Beth blinked up at the ceiling in her room, taking in everything that was surrounding her in that exact moment. It was strange, really, the small things that she hadn't noticed until winter had finally come around. Like the small draft from the window, that she had always kept open until it became too cold outside. Even then, the fresh and chilly winter air had managed to sneak through the cracks of the old farmhouse, and seep deep into her bones, leaving her a shivering mess during some nights.

Naturally, there could also be another reason for that. The reason being the man that had slept by her side every single night since they had gotten together, the man who was as hot as a furnace during the night and who was always making sure that she was pressed against him so that he could share his body heat.

 _Daryl_.

Beth's eyes closed as a wave of pleasure shot through her body, her hands tightening on Daryl's shoulders as her back arched. She moved her hips in slow circles while he tightened his grip on them, making her press down onto him with even more force than before.

The cold most certainly wasn't the only reason that she was sometimes a shivering mess during the night.

Beth caught her lower lip between her teeth in hopes of silencing a moan, raking her fingernails from Daryl's shoulders to the back of his head as she moved against him in perfect sync. The feeling of having him inside of her was definitely one of the best feelings she had ever experienced and since he had moved into her room – which was now _their_ room – she had gotten to experience it whenever she wanted. Daryl never complained and he most certainly never forced her to do something she didn't feel comfortable with doing. He always made sure she came at least once before he did and she loved him for it.

There were more reasons for her loving him though. Sure, the sex was great and they made love frequently, but _they_ were so much more than just physical.

They were always there for each other, even though they were both emotionally crippled at times, they listened to each other and supported one another whenever the other needed support. Beth for one loved Daryl for never pressuring her about her memories, even when she knew that he noticed whenever she recalled a small detail or something seemed familiar to her. He never once asked her about it, but whenever she would question him on the matter, he was always open for giving her the few details he knew.

Her memory was an issue just for her, it seemed. Daryl didn't seem to mind that she couldn't remember anything from what had happened before she had taken a gunshot to the head, just like he had told her before. After he had told her he loved her that first time and she had run away from him, she had been certain that she had just made the biggest mistake of her life. She didn't doubt that Daryl loved her, but she couldn't help but wonder _which part_ of her that he loved. Beth had thought that his infatuation might be stemming from the girl she had been before and not the one that she was now, after months of surviving alone with Morgan. Daryl though, had made sure to tell her how wrong she was when she had finally shared her fears with him and he had stayed true to his word about never falling out of love with her because she couldn't remember.

“ _Beth..._ ” Daryl breathed out her name, bringing her out of her deep thoughts as she tightened her grip on his dark, dampened hair. “Don't know what you're thinking, girl… Just _stop_ ,” he whispered, his lips ghosting over her bare chest.

She leaned down closer, claiming his lips as their hips met again and again, which each thrust. “Sorry,” she whispered back. “Got sidetracked.”

“Mmm...” Daryl hummed, his tongue meeting hers as he deepened the kiss. His hand moved from her hip to her back, tracing every vertebrae of her spine, leaving a trail of fire in his wake.

God, how could he always make her feel like this? Like she was burning from the inside out?

It didn't matter though, because as long as she was in Daryl's arms, she wouldn't mind if his fire swallowed her whole. She would gladly burn, as long as they burned together and she would love every second of it.

She could feel that Daryl was close. He was pulsing inside of her, making that familiar heat gather down low in her own belly. Just the feel of him sliding his thick and hard dick in and out of her heat, the thought of them joined like this in the most intimate way, was almost enough to bring her to an end.

So Beth took in _their_ bedroom again, but this time with closed eyes. The small draft from the window was letting in the cold winter air, which was brushing against her heated skin. Daryl's big hands were still roaming over her naked body as she pulled her closer to him and her lips latched onto the side of his neck as soon as he pulled himself up into a sitting position. This was the way she loved to do this the most. Her on top, but with him sitting up. It didn't give them much room to move, but it brought them closer together, so that every piece of him was pressed to every inch of her.

The sounds of their small gasps and tiny moans. Their bodies moving together, sweat dripping from her forehead down to his shoulder. His beard leaving small scratches on her skin, a feeling which made her toes curl. Then the two of them just looking into each others eyes, a moment before Beth's whole world crashed down and she fervently pressed her lips against his, tangling her fingers in his hair again. He flipped them over, as he always did toward the end, never being able to withhold the urge to just bury himself deep inside of her. Snapping his hips to hers, she could feel him cumming just after a few thrusts. Emptying himself inside the condom, he collapsed against her, knowing enough to not worry about crushing her body. She had told him a hundred times already that she loved having him over her, because it made her feel good. He stayed inside her while their labored breaths began evening out, her fingers stroking through his sweaty hair.

“I love ya,” he murmured against the base of her throat.

“And I love you,” Beth replied, her heart still racing.

Daryl lifted his head from her shoulder and looked into her eyes, searching for something. She knew that a part of him still thought he was too damn lucky to have her, even after months of being together, but she always tried to assure him that he was the one for her and she would never want to trade him for anyone else.

“We're leaving today,” Beth finally said, after a moment of just gazing into those intense blue eyes that could make her feel a thousand emotions all at once.

“Yeah,” Daryl drawled. “I know.” His hand came up to cup her cheek and she leaned into his large palm, giving him a lazy smile.

“Do you think they're gonna be mad if we just stay in bed all day? Enjoy this softness while we can?” she wondered teasingly. She was almost a hundred percent sure that she felt Daryl's cock twitch inside of her again.

“Don't think it's a good idea,” Daryl said, but he seemed to be liking the thought of staying in bed with her. “Maggie would prob'ly kill me if she didn't get at least a couple of hours with ya 'fore we head out.”

Beth knew that he was right.

“'Sides, we might find a good place or two to stop at while we're on the road,” he smugly added, bending down to press his lips against hers.

She kissed him back with equal passion, forgetting completely that she had been about to tease him about being her favorite bed-warmer.

-§-

The decision for Daryl and Beth to leave the farmhouse had been made three weeks ago.

Maggie had been about five months pregnant at the time and they had all sat down to have a serious conversation about how to prepare for when the baby eventually would come. Some time during the meeting, Abraham and Rosita came forward with the fact that they had pretty much taken everything that was useful from the few warehouses and malls that were close to the farm and that since they had decided on never going South again, they would have to start making plans for longer trips.

That was when Eugene said shared that he had been tinkering around with some long range radios that could be used for communication and that it would probably be a good idea if someone took a car and headed North, for at least a few miles over the last spot they had gotten to on their runs.

When Daryl had stepped forward, telling them that he was willing to go, it hadn't taken more than a few seconds for Beth to chime in that she too was going. Somehow, during the meeting, it was decided that the best option was for Beth and Daryl to leave alone and then come back once they find what they're looking for.

A part of Daryl was happy that he and Beth would be getting some time alone, but at the same time, this would be the first time that it's _just them_ , and on a longer run, nonetheless. It was impossible for them to know just when they would be returning to the farm, but they had all agreed to keep in touch for as long as Eugene's radios allowed it. Once they passed into unknown territory though, they would be on their own.

Their mission was simple enough: find food, provisions and anything that they might need when Maggie and Glenn's baby finally comes around. Carol had been reading up on the few books that they had found along the way, about labor and giving birth and helping to deliver a baby. She remembered some of the things she had gone through when she had had Sophia, but she hadn't exactly been on the other side of it, having missed when Lori gave birth to Judith.

Still, Daryl's friend was doing her best and that was really the only thing anyone could ask of her. Carol was doing her best to remember everything that Hershel had taught her too, although, it all seemed so long ago that she could hardly recall anything. They all knew the risks of having a child in this world, but hopefully, they would all be more prepared than they were the last time.

Daryl looked over at Beth, who was now getting dressed and packing just a few more shirts for their trip. She was so beautiful that she always took his breath away. A part of him still couldn't believe that she was alive, those painful months of wandering around dead inside still etched into his mind. Luckily, those bad thoughts that he had been having back then didn't resurface as often as they had before and now, Beth was there to soothe him whenever he would wake up, feeling around in bed to make sure that she was still there with him.

At times it all felt like a dream to him and he was worried that he might wake up one day to find that that was all that it had ever been.

Pushing his worries aside, Daryl stood from their bed, pulling on the boxers that Beth threw at him. There wasn't much modesty left between the two of them anymore, but most days they would try to avert their eyes from each other mainly because they both knew they would otherwise end up on the bed again.

Daryl couldn't remember having been this happy in… Well, _ever_ , really. Since getting together with Beth things in his personal life had only changed for the better. Sure, there wasn't much of a 'personal life' so to speak, but it was actually more like his insides, his thoughts and mind, had been cleared out of the fog they had been in before. He was more focused on what mattered and he was trying his best to be comfortable with every new experience that being with Beth brought.

“Do you have something else you want to pack down?” Beth wondered, turning to look at him as she pulled up her unruly curls into a messy bun on top of her head.

“Nah,” he shook his head, smirking, “just need you an' my crossbow.”

Beth shot him an amused look and shook her head, letting out a small laugh as she did. “You're impossible sometimes,” she smiled.

He still wasn't used to throwing comments like that around and he actually preferred staying quiet and just _showing_ her how much she meant to him, but sometimes the words just slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them and then he figured he just needed to own them. Still, since Beth didn't seem to mind and she understood that he was still very uncomfortable with showing affection when the others were around, he figured they were both in a good place in their relationship.

 _Relationship_.

The word used to make Daryl cringe, but now it only made his lips tug upwards whenever he thought about the fact that he was Beth's and she was his. He belonged to someone now and she equally belonged to him.

That was how he had known that she wouldn't be okay with him going on this long run alone. He had known that the moment that he volunteered, Beth would be right behind him, backing him up. Of course, he hadn't expected that the two of them would end up being the only two going, but he wasn't one to complain.

“Gonna need to talk to Rick before we leave,” Daryl told Beth, who nodded in agreement.

“I'll see with Glenn if Morgan's truck is all fueled up,” she said. “Then I'll have to talk to Maggie and Morgan, and I need to make sure that Carol won't be leaving Maggie and–”

Daryl pressed a light kiss to her forehead, stunning her into silence. He lingered there for a moment, hearing her sigh and then sag against him as she wrapped her arms around him.

“I'm over-thinking, aren't I?” she asked.

“A lil' bit,” he said, pulling back enough to look down at her. “Though ya wouldn't be Beth if ya didn't.”

In the beginning of their relationship Daryl had always worried that Beth might take offense when he made a statement like that. He had never wanted to put pressure on her or anything and he had worried that saying things like that would make her upset, since she technically didn't know how she had been _before_. Yet, it seemed like Beth never took offense to anything he said that implied to how she had been before. Instead, she welcomed those small statements with open arms, happy that she got at least a little confirmation that she hadn't changed completely since she had lost her memory.

“Ya know ya don't gotta pack my shit,” Daryl finally said after a moment.

“I want to though,” Beth stated. “It's easier for me to keep everything organized and to know where everything is. It's just a habit of mine that remained after all those months on the road with Morgan.”

“Ya packed his shit too?” Daryl raised an eyebrow. He was always interested in hearing about the months that they had been separated; the months that he had thought her to be dead.

“It calms me down,” Beth explained, stopping there, knowing that she wouldn't need to give another reason to Daryl. If she told him that that was all there was to it, he would believe her because he believed _in_ her.

“In that case, pack away,” Daryl said, leaning down to press another brief kiss to her cheek. “I'm gonna be downstairs with Rick. Holler if ya need anything and stop stressin'. Everythin'll be okay.”

“Aren't I the luckiest girl in the world, to have someone like you by my side,” Beth smiled against him again.

Daryl shot her a look, but didn't say anything. The two of them didn't use any labels for what they were, other than _together._ Everyone in their family knew that they were an item, but they never addressed each other as 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend' or anything else really. They were simply _together_ and they didn't need anything else.

After receiving a final peck on the lips from Beth, Daryl quickly finished getting dressed and headed out of the room. He pulled on a thin, black winter jacket that Beth had dug out for him in the closet. When Daryl had first seen the thing he had been completely against wearing it, thinking it would restrict his movements and make him weak in case any walkers came around and he needed to protect himself and the others. Beth had been on his case the entire day about how she was sure that the jacket had been used as some kind of hunting jacket because she had worn a similar one and it hadn't affected her at all. Reluctantly, he had tried it on that night when they had been alone in the room and he had to admit that he kind of liked how it felt on him. Instead of telling Beth that she had been right, he just accepted her 'I told you so' look and proceeded to ravage her completely while she giggled and laughed at how he was such a sore loser sometimes.

Daryl smirked to himself at the memory, zipping up the jacket before heading outside, raising his hand in a small wave toward Maggie and Carol who were in the kitchen. Rick and Morgan were standing by Morgan's truck, checking on the tires, it seemed.

“G'mornin',” Daryl spoke when he was close enough and they both looked up at him, small smiles on their faces.

“Good morning, Daryl,” Morgan said. “Sleep well?”

Daryl kept his face neutral, not feeling entirely comfortable with telling the man that basically saw Beth as a daughter that he had never slept better, or been _woken up_ in a better way since he could remember. “Slept all right,” Daryl shrugged, shooting a glare toward Rick who seemed way too amused by the situation.

“Is Beth up yet? The two of you need to get going within an hour or so,” Rick stated. “Drive while there's still light I mean.”

“Yeah, she's just puttin' some last things together. She's gonna want to talk to Maggie though,” Daryl said. “It'll probably take a little longer than an hour.”

“As long as you don't loose too much daylight,” Morgan nodded before glancing down at the tires. “I think they should hold pretty good, put we'll put two spares in the back, just in case.”

“Sounds good,” Daryl agreed. “Did Eugene get the cover up?”

“Yeah, it's right here,” Rick told him, lifting what looked like folded up boards that had been colored black. “Basically, he'll just drill 'em in and then you guys can pull it down to keep your stuff locked up during the night.”

“Hmm… Where is the Scientist now?” Daryl wondered. He still hadn't been able to get rid of that nickname completely. Besides, since Eugene had proven himself time and time and again, it had actually become more of a name that he used to show his respect for the man.

“He's in the basement with those radios. Rosita and Tara drove out a bit earlier so that he could check one final time if they were working properly,” Rick said. “If they work, then we'll be able to keep in touch for a good couple of miles. Maybe even if you pass into another state.”

Daryl wanted to ask just how the fuck that would work, but he knew that he didn't want to tire himself out thinking about it, so he just nodded again. “Anythin' else ya need me to do before we head out then?” he asked instead.

“You've already filled up the freezer with meat for the entire winter, Brother,” Rick said, patting him on the back. “We've got potatoes and the vegetables we managed to harvest before the snow came and we've got fire wood. Stop worrying about us, we'll be fine.”

Daryl opened his mouth to protest, but then shut it quickly, realizing that yes, he was indeed worrying too much – Just like Beth had been doing earlier in their room. He understood where she was coming from because he didn't feel particularly good for separating from their group like this either. At the same time, he knew that it was for the better and that he and Beth would try to be back before Maggie gave birth, which meant that they needed to be back before she entered her eight month at latest. Beth wanted to be there for her sister and she would probably want to be back because who knew what might happen along the way. Besides, neither of them knew for sure how far along Maggie was, but they were guessing based on the few books that Daryl had brought back along with the few measurements that Carol and Morgan had been able to make.

“Just make sure no one wanders off,” Daryl mumbled to Rick, even though he was sure that he hadn't really heard him.

“You make sure that you two don't get lost out there,” Rick retorted, making it clear that he had heard him indeed.

-§-

“I can't believe you're actually leaving,” Maggie cried, wiping her tears away.

Beth embraced her sister, blinking a couple of times while patting her back. “I'll be back before you know it,” she said.

“There are a thousand things that can go wrong though,” Maggie protested.

“She's with Daryl, Maggie,” Carol said, her lips twitching into a small smile while she looked at Beth who couldn't help but roll her eyes. This wasn't the first time that Maggie's hormones had gotten the better of her.

“I know, I know, he'll keep her safe,” Maggie said sarcastically as she pulled back from Beth.

“Correction: _I'll_ keep him safe,” Beth grinned, not being able to tease.

“You're my baby sister,” Maggie pouted.

“And you're my _very pregnant,_ older sister,” Beth laughed. “Come on, Mags. You know that we'll be fine.”

Maggie sat down on the chair that she had been sitting in before Beth had walked into the kitchen and she had thrown herself at her. The older Greene sister crossed her arms over her chest and shot Beth a small glare. “Have you packed condoms?”

Beth choked on air as she turned to stare wide-eyed at Carol who snorted before turning back to stirring the stew she was making. She felt her cheeks heat up. Even though she knew that everyone knew about her and Daryl's relationship – Carol herself had walked in on them once and it had been _very_ embarrassing to say the least. – she didn't exactly want it all to be painted up in front of them.

“ _Maggie!_ ” Beth groaned, covering her eyes. “You can't just say things like that!”

“What? It's not like no one _knows_ ,” Maggie said, narrowing her eyes at her younger sister. “Besides, I gave like half of my stash of condoms to you.”

“Okay, now I can't wait to get out of here,” Beth rolled her eyes before turning to smile at Maggie again. “I am going to miss you though. Despite your highly inappropriate comments that are clearly brought forward by your highly hormonal brain.”

“And I am going to miss you too,” Maggie said, standing to embrace her one more time, and Beth gladly let her.

-§-

An hour later, they were all gathered outside. It had just begun to snow a little again and Beth pulled on a beanie over her head before Daryl put their bag of extra clothes in the back of the truck while he put Beth's emergency backpack in the front. Eugene had installed the cover up for the truck and Daryl pulled it closed and secured it.

“You radio in every morning and every evening when you make camp,” Rick said to Daryl, placing his hand on his shoulder.

“At least for as long as the radios work,” Daryl nodded. “Stay safe, Brother.” Giving him a one-armed hug, Daryl glanced over at Beth who was hugging Maggie and Glenn. After giving Carol a hug of his own, he just nodded at the rest of the group, looking Morgan in the eyes as if to promise that he would keep Beth safe. Morgan's lips twitched up into a small smile that kind of reminded Daryl of Beth's real father, so he forced himself to look away and focus on checking the truck one final time.

Beth on the other hand was busy hugging everyone and kissing Judith's cheeks, telling them that they would be seeing each other again, _never once_ uttering the words 'good bye'. They knew that they would be back eventually, so there was no need for it, even though they also knew that it was a dangerous world out there. There was a risk with taking off like this, and to be quite honest, they would never be able to be one hundred percent sure that they would come back in one piece. Daryl knew that he would give his life for Beth, but the things was that she would probably give hers for him as well. If anything happened to them out there, they would be all on their own and if they actually never returned, their family would never get closure.

However, there was that part of him that also knew that he would without a doubt be seeing the rest of his group again. He and Beth would be gone for a month or two, but Beth wanted to return before Maggie gave birth and so they would, he decided. They would be careful out there and avoid unnecessary danger.

“You ready?” Beth asked him, finally coming to stand next to him.

“As ready as I'll ever be,” he grunted at her, lips twitching into a half-smile when he felt her hand brush against his before she walked over to the other side of the truck and got into the passenger seat. Daryl turned back and looked at the others once more, meeting Morgan's eyes again. There were no words needed there. Instead, he looked over at Carl, giving him a pointed look. “Ya better keep an eye on my bike, like I taught ya,” he said, making the young boy chuckle.

“Sure thing, Daryl,” Carl replied, grinning widely as Rick placed his hand on his shoulder, shooting a smirk of his own toward Daryl.

“I'll make sure he does his job,” Rick said. Daryl only nodded before he turned back and got into the truck, starting the engine and turning on the heater. They shouldn't waste whatever heat they had left, but he could see that Beth was already cold so he figured they should at least get a good start in the morning. He could turn it off once they got to the main road.

With some last waves, he turned around the truck and began driving, keeping his eyes set on the road in front of them, only looking back once through the rear-view mirror. He drove them up to the highway, letting out a small breath before glancing at Beth. She was keeping her eyes on the road too and he figured that she was deep in thoughts since she wasn't saying anything. After a couple of minutes though, he felt her nimble fingers reach out and brush over his. He turned his hand, allowing her to lace their fingers together.

“We're gonna make it,” Beth said confidently. Daryl felt as if she might be reassuring herself more than him, but she sounded so sure of herself that it actually made him feel a little better too. He didn't doubt himself and he didn't doubt her either. They would be returning, together.

“We are,” he agreed, feeling her squeeze his fingers.

He looked at the road in front of them. A walker stumbled forward on the side of the road, slowed down by winter. Daryl puffed out another breath.

They had a long journey in front of them, but as long as they were together, they'd be good.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl thinks about how his view on affection has changed since the dead began to walk the Earth. Meanwhile, Beth realizes that Daryl can be a little too stubborn sometimes regarding some things.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thank you so much for the positive response on the first chapter! I'm so happy and thankful for the lovely reviews you left me and they inspired me to write this chapter as quick as possible! I've had it in my possession for a few days, but I wanted to wait until Sunday to post it! So, here I am! :)
> 
> Just a quick little thing: I researched the climate of Alabama, Georgia, North/South Carolina and Virginia AFTER I wrote this chapter. I know that the Winters there are supposed to be milder than what I describe in this story, but the world has changed, which I suppose means that the climate can change with it. So, please, over-look the fact that the weather reports in this story might not be fully correct. After all, it is fiction! :)
> 
> Enjoy!

# A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)

## Chapter 2

As they drove away from the farmland, Daryl observed the few straggling walkers who had been making their way toward the farm. It was a good thing that he and Beth had taken their attention by driving past them although it was clear just how much they had been slowed down by the winter season.

Snow still laid on the ground and from a calendar that they had started on their own, they figured that they were somewhere close to January now. Daryl remembered how the winter had been before and for some reason he had a feeling that it wasn't just the fact that the dead had started roaming the world that had changed, but also the fact that the winter seemed a lot harsher in this part of the country nowadays. Or perhaps it had something to do with then not being as well supplied as they were back then when the world was normal? Still, he couldn't remember a time when it had been this cold in Georgia, with this much snow around and all… Then again, the farmhouse had been located in Northern Alabama and they were still a long drive from the border to Georgia, so he couldn't really say that he knew much about how the weather was around here. It still didn't change the fact that he knew that the climate, in general, seemed to have changed a lot over the past years.

He remembered that first winter that they had spent running. The one after they had fled from Hershel's farm. It had definitely been a tough one. Lori had been pregnant and she and Rick hadn't been on speaking terms because of the way that she had reacted after she had found out the truth about how Shane had died. Rick had declared that democracy no longer existed and Daryl had been kind of glad to see him step up as a leader so that he could have someone to follow. It could have had to do with the fact that he had been so used to following Merle around that he had forgotten what it meant to make decisions of his own. Naturally, he was a hunter and knew things that most people didn't about nature; he could have been fine on his own if he had decided to keep to himself. Yet, there had just been something about the group that had made him re-think the whole thing about being on his own. Carol might have had something to do with it too, because he couldn't deny the fact that he had grown attached to the woman in a way after he had spent so much time looking for her little girl. After Sophia had been found dead, he had lashed out at the woman though, maybe because he had felt like she had given up on her daughter too soon and maybe, just maybe, he could have done things differently and found her sooner.

It didn't matter much now though because it felt as if years and years had passed, even though it couldn't be more than two. So much had happened since then, so much had changed. They had been through so much that _they_ were different and he knew now for sure that he had made the right call by sticking around and not leaving in the middle of the night like he had thought about doing so many times while they had been freezing on the road.

When they had found the prison, Daryl had thought that they had hit the jackpot. It became a place of stability and for a while before the Governor came tearing down their gates, Daryl had felt like someone who was worth something because he had helped to form that community alongside Hershel, Rick and everyone else. After they lost it, he felt like he had lost himself once again. He hated the fact that he was back to being nobody again and felt that he had failed the people who had trusted him to keep them safe. Beth had seen him at his darkest, when he had been lit like a Christmas tree, yelling and crying about how he wished he could have done things differently. She had relived almost the same conversation just a couple of months ago, when he had finally broken down and admitted to her how he had felt after he had thought that he had lost her forever.

She had picked him up then and given back the thing he had thought he had lost. She had given him a _purpose_ again. He had known that she could hold her own if needed, but he had wanted to make her even better at doing so, which had been why he had decided to teach her how to hunt. Later, after they had been reunited, when he had told her again how he felt, she had picked him up again; this time putting together the broken pieces that had been left of him after he had thought that he had lost her forever.

Daryl glanced her way, smiling to himself when he saw her looking through the maps that Eugene had marked out a route for them to follow. Sometimes it was still difficult for him to believe that he got to wake up next to her every morning. When he thought back to the first time he laid eyes on her, he never would have expected things to turn out the way they had. If someone would have told him that he would be falling in love with Beth Greene, he probably would have laughed in their face before breaking their nose.

Before, he had flinched away every time someone would touch him. He remembered that time that Carol had kissed his cheek and thanked him for looking for Sophia, or the time that Hershel cleaned up his wound after he had shot himself with an arrow. It had felt as if his skin had been burning whenever someone touched him and all he had been able to think about had been the flames that had once engulfed his childhood home and burned his mother alive. The fire had been connected to nothing but pain and grief and he had loathed the burn more than anything. Every touch had felt like the burn of the belt that his father had used to beat him with and he hadn't wanted the reminder.

Now though, things were different. Over the time that he had spent with the group he had learned that things didn't always have to hurt. He had allowed Rick and Hershel to pat his back every once in a while as they expressed their gratitude for something or when they were praising him, he let Carol stand close to him and tease him about things without flying off the handle thinking that she was making fun of him somehow.

He thinks, however, that one of the biggest turning points was that evening that he went to Beth's cell and the girl he considered a part of his family – without actually thinking much about her other than how to keep her safe along with the rest – _hugged_ him, without much thought. It had been a simple display of affection, but her had never actually been shown such a thing, except for that time when Carol had kissed his cheek. Somehow though, that little hug had felt different. Daryl hadn't thought about Beth in a romantic way back then. Those feelings had been developed later on. Sure, that hug may have sparked something inside of him that had made him notice her a little more, but he had buried that feeling deep down so that he wouldn't have to think about it ever again. The only other time that he may have thought a little more about Beth in the prison, had been that one time when he hadn't been able to sleep and he had heard her singing Judith a song as she tried to put her to bed. But that had been weeks before their first hug.

Daryl was still a very private person and he wasn't one for public displays of affection. When he and Beth had returned to the farmhouse after they had confessed their feelings for one another, he knew that they hadn't had to announce anything. He had held on to Beth's hand, for the first time deciding that he had something that was worth showing. After that though, they kept mostly to themselves. Sure, Carol and some others may or may not have walked in on them once or twice, but he figured that with as many times as they had walked in on Maggie and Glenn, they could take a simple kiss between him and Beth. It wasn't as if they _showed off_ in front of them though. Everyone knew they were together and that was enough.

But the way that Beth made him feel whenever she touched him. He thought about that burning fire that he had used to associate with nothing but pain and misery and realized that Beth's fire burned him differently. It ignited something inside of him that made it feel like it was worth burning because he would be reborn again as something _better_. Sometimes he thought back to that first fire she had lit inside of him, when she had suggested that they burn down that old shack in the woods. It had been crazy and dangerous, but he had done it and with it, his past had burned. After that, every time someone touched him, it didn't feel like pain anymore, because he had let go of that as he had watched the flames rise to the night sky before he and Beth had run off together.

Things were different now than how they had been before. He was different and Beth was different. She had been changed after she had lost her memories and been forced to create a new persona, not knowing that she was still very much the same good person that she had been before deep inside, and he had changed when he had lost her in that damned hospital.

When he thought about that first time that he had seen her on Hershel's farm, he remembered how he had thought that she was someone who wouldn't last a day out in the real world where the walkers prowled. Then later, she had proven to not only be resourceful, but also as much of a survivor as any of them. She became a fighter and someone he was proud to call his partner in every way. Despite what many might think, she was his equal and he loved her for it because he had never thought that he would be able to find someone like her.

Daryl looked at her again, hearing her hum a small tune that he couldn't remember if he had ever heard before and he smiled a little to himself. Rick and the others were more than equipped to take care of themselves on the farm. The wall was secure and the pits that they had dug would be good enough to hold off any walkers that wandered toward them, even though there seemed to be less and less every day.

All that Daryl needed to focus on now was the mission that he and Beth had been sent on and the road.

-§-

Beth flipped the map she was looking at, eyes moving over the route that Eugene had marked up for them. The farmhouse that they had left behind, along with their family had been located in North Alabama and they were heading to Georgia right now. The border hadn't been too far away, but Beth figured that they would reach it some time tomorrow. She could feel Daryl's eyes on her, although she knew that his mind was going a mile a minute, so she didn't want to interrupt whatever it was he was thinking about. Besides, she needed to figure out where they were right now, since they had been driving for approximately three hours and all the signs on the road seemed to have been destroyed somehow.

She sighed to herself, wondering whether the world would ever get some of it normalcy back. Or perhaps, _this_ would be the new normal? Fighting dead people until they no longer wandered the Earth and then taking care of those who died before they could turn. It didn't seem so bad when she thought about it, but the fact was that she felt as if humanity might have been lost since the apocalypse began.

Sure, she couldn't remember everything from when it had all begun, but she still had a feeling that people were different now. Those who had survived so far were far more messed up than the psychopaths who had walked the Earth before. Beth remembered those men who had attacked her group and almost killed them all. She remembered everything since she had dug herself out of her own grave and those men hadn't been the first bad ones that she had come across. Together with Morgan she had been through quite a lot when they had been on their own on the road. There had been some close calls, but she knew that that was a part of _her_ story; a story that she had shared at least some parts of with Daryl. It had taken time for her to open up to him about it, though, she knew that he understood her reluctance didn't mean that she didn't trust him or love him. Basically, it was all about her simply not wanting to talk about it yet because it was in the past. Just like Daryl wasn't pressuring her to remember how things had been between them before, he wasn't pressuring her to tell him how she had fought her way to becoming the woman she was today. Of course, that didn't mean that he didn't enjoy listening to her when she finally did share something with him. Either way, they were moving forward together and that was what was most important.

“You're gonna burn a hole through those maps if you keep glarin' at them the way you are,” Daryl teased her, making her look up at him.

“I was just looking at this route,” Beth sighed. “Eugene really went out of his way to mark up emergency exit routes for us.”

“He's a good man...” Daryl mumbled. “Took him a while to step up and admit that he'd been lyin'. Took a good while for me to trust him. But he's good.”

Beth knew that story. Daryl had told her about it all one night when they had been laying in bed together. It wasn't very unusual for her to ask him to tell her something – _anything_ – about the things he had been through when he had been on the road and she hadn't been there. Sometimes she asked him to tell her things about them too, but when they had talked it over, they had decided that it was just better to let things come up naturally, in case she ever remembered anything on her own.

“Good man indeed,” Beth agreed. “I know he was a little bit creepy at first, the way he followed me around and all that… But after I confronted him he turned out to be all right. He's just a little awkward sometimes.”

“'S a good thing he learned to keep his hands off of ya,” Daryl gruffly said, but he sounded like he was hiding a smile.

“Oh, please,” Beth scoffed. “Don't tell me that you were ready to defend my honor.” She couldn't help but giggle lightly, raising an eyebrow at Daryl.

He turned his head in her direction and shot her a smirk. “Nah, I know you would'a beat him up by yourself, if needed,” he half chuckled.

She loved how playful they could get with each other sometimes. The fact that Daryl was able to feel so relaxed around her that he could actually joke around like that meant everything to her. It just showed how far he had come as a person as well and how their relationship continued to grow and develop daily.

Beth didn't need to think twice about leaning over to press a light kiss against his cheek. She could almost see a hint of red on his face when she pulled back and she heard him let out a small breath. “It's a good thing you know it,” she winked, turning back to the maps again. “You know there are probably a lot of places in-between the spots that Eugene marked for us that we can make a stop. It'll be like out very own road trip.”

“Yeah, if a road trip included dead people tryin' to eat us alive,” Daryl muttered. “Best we just stick to the plan.”

“Oh, come on,” Beth nudged him lightly with her fist. “Don't be like that. I know this is serious business and everything but the walkers are slowed down by the cold and we'll stick to the places we think are safe. We'll be fine, Daryl.”

Daryl remained quiet, but Beth knew that they would without a doubt be making some stops along the way that weren't part of the plan. It was inevitable because who knew if they would need more food or just a day or two to rest somewhere. They couldn't just drive and drive and hope to find what they were looking for in one place. It wouldn't make sense.

“Okay,” Daryl finally said. “We'll see if we can make a couple of stop along the way… But we ain't riskin' our lives just because you wanna see a _Chuck E. Cheese_ or whatever. 'Sides, that robotic shit with singing animals always freaked me out when I saw the commercials...”

Beth grinned to herself but didn't say anything about it. “Just remember that we need to make sure that we'll be able to go back home before Maggie gives birth,” she said instead.

“Ya know that ain't gonna be a problem, Beth,” Daryl nodded. “We'll be back before ya know it, so why don't we just enjoy this little bit of peace an' quiet we got now?”

Beth placed her hand on his knee and she could feel him move slightly in his seat. “Whatever you say, Mr. Dixon,” she smirked before laughing at the exasperated look he sent her way.

-§-

Daryl stared ahead at the road, but he could feel that his vision was beginning to get a bit blurry. His shoulders were tense and they had been like that for the past hour. There was an uncomfortable feeling in his neck from straining so much that he wondered if it was possible for him to actually acquire an injury from sitting too long.

He blinked a couple of times, trying to ease the burning in his eyes. His throat was feeling a little dry, despite the fact that he had been taking regular sips from his water bottle. Beth had offered to drive a couple of times, but for some reason he didn't want her driving. He didn't doubt her skills; it wasn't about that at all. It was just that he wanted her to rest and relax. They would have enough to do later and he knew that he would be fine.

“We should stop for a while,” Beth spoke through the haze that was beginning to wash over him. “You've been driving for hours and you're tired.”

“I'm fine,” he protested, but his voice was a little too raspy for it to be convincing.

“Daryl, pull this car over before you crash,” Beth told him sternly. “It doesn't matter that it isn't night yet. It's better for us to rest now and then we can get up earlier and keep going.”

“We should drive while there's still light out,” he said.

“We haven't stopped for _hours,_ Daryl,” Beth repeated. “The only time we stopped was when I was close to peeing myself and that was like a five-minute break. Don't kill yourself because this is just the beginning of our trip.”

He knew that what he was doing was just plain stupid and as Michonne had said so many times, stupidity was what got one killed in this world. Daryl nodded solemnly and checked the rear-view mirror before looking around once. There were no walkers in sight, but there was snow everywhere. He pulled over on the side of the road before turning off the engine.

“I'll keep watch first so you can get some sleep,” he told Beth.

Beth shook her head, removing her seatbelt as she turned to face him fully, reaching over to cup his cheek. “Daryl, _please_ ,” she said. “Stop being so stubborn all the time. _You're_ the one who needs to sleep. You don't have to make sure that I'm okay all of the time. You're not my chaperone, you're my… My _partner_ ,” she told him, hesitating a little on which word to use to describe the two of them. Daryl liked that word though: _partners_. “You aren't alone anymore,” Beth continued, saying the one thing that she tried to remind him of every single day. He wasn't alone anymore, because he had her. He had found her again, after he had thought that he had lost her forever and he wasn't the one who needed to always take care of her. Sometimes, it was all right for him to be taken care of too.

“Okay, you're right,” he finally conceded. The smile Beth gave him was worth it and when she leaned over and pressed her lips to his softly, he didn't hesitate in kissing her back.

He liked those kisses the best, he decided then. The kind of kiss that wasn't too heated or sloppy, the kind that was soft and sweet and just _slow_. For some reason, it confirmed the fact that they were more than just lovers. Those kinds of kisses told him that the thing between him and Beth ran deeper than just sex and love. It was something so deeply embedded in his core then that he honestly didn't even have any words for it.

It had something to do with his soul, he thought. She had given him a piece of herself and thus, he had somehow managed to find himself in all of this madness that surrounded them. Loving Beth was just a part of something bigger. It was a part that meant a hell of a lot to him, but the feelings he had for her… He didn't want to limit them to just love. However, that was probably the easiest way to express it, so he would have to keep telling her that he loved her and let all those other feelings be shown through his actions.

He didn't get to tell her that he loved her though, because as soon as Beth had pulled away from him, he had leaned back in his seat and fallen asleep.

-§-

Beth gazed at Daryl, taking in his sleeping form. He looked comfortable, despite being crammed up in his seat. She had wanted to tell him to push it back, but he had fallen asleep on her before she had even gotten a word in after they had pulled apart from their sweet kiss. He looked so peaceful that Beth couldn't help but smile to herself before she took out her gun and her knife, looking out the window to make sure that no walkers – or people for that matter – would be able to sneak up at them. Daryl had parked the car close to a large pile of snow, so she only had to look three ways to make sure that nothing was coming at them, but it seemed to be peaceful tonight.

The walkers were slowed down and Beth could only assume that the survivors who were out there somewhere had done the same as her family and found a safe place to stay over the winter. Beth glanced over toward Daryl who was still peacefully sleeping and she reached down into her backpack and took out one of the blankets they had taken with them, covering him up with it. He mumbled her name in his sleep and Beth smiled to herself again, silently wondering why he continued to be so damn stubborn about taking care of her sometimes. He needed to know that it was okay for him to let go sometimes too.

After sitting in the car for a couple of hours, Beth picked out the radio phone that Eugene had fixed for them and pulled her jacket closer around herself. She looked at Daryl one more time before quietly slipping out of the car, closing the door slowly so that it would slam and wake Daryl. Pressing the button on the side, she swallowed thickly, praying to whatever was out there that the thing would work at this range.

“Come in home base, come in,” she spoke into the device slowly. “This is… Little bird, come in.” She almost rolled her eyes at the name she had given herself and suddenly she felt incredibly silly about getting out of the car alone. Just as she was about to head inside though, something crackled in the device.

“ _Home base to Little bird,_ ” came a slightly disoriented, but amused, voice that sounded a lot like Rick Grimes. “ _Home base to Little bird, are you there? Over._ ”

“I'm here,” Beth replied, a smile covering her features. “Rick is that you?”

“ _Sure is,_ ” Rick replied. “ _It's so good to hear your voice. Everything okay? Where are you guys? Where's Daryl?_ ” The questions were coming in quickly, but from time to time the words were a cut off halfway. Although Beth understood him perfectly fine.

“Everything's good,” she told him. “We're somewhere close to the border of Georgia. Daryl's asleep since he exhausted himself driving all day.”

“ _That's good_ ,” Rick said. “ _The signal isn't the best but at least it's somethin'. Everyone's good here too by the way_.”

“Good to hear,” Beth grinned to herself. “I'm gonna head inside the car now. It's freezing out here but I just wanted to check in.”

“ _We should keep in touch for as long as it's possible. I like that codename, 'Little bird'_ ,” he added then, as a second thought. Beth chuckled before shaking her head. Daryl had slipped up once and called her that in front of everyone else. Morgan had liked it so much that he had almost stopped calling her lil' Lady in favor of the new name, but Beth had made sure that they all knew that only Daryl was allowed to call her that. Later, she had told Daryl that he was only allowed to call her that when they were alone, but she had made sure that he knew that she loved it.

“ _Don't let him forget about himself out there, Beth_ ,” Rick said before Beth could fall into the memory of what she and Daryl had done that particular night.

“I won't, Rick,” she promised, more to herself than anyone else. “Tell everyone that I said 'hi' and we'll keep in touch. We'll radio in tomorrow morning before we start driving again.”

“ _Sounds good. G'night and stay safe_.”

“You too, good night.”

Beth got inside the car again, put the radio phone away and rubbed her hands together to get warm again. She knew she should have put on some gloves before stepping outside.

“Where were ya?” Daryl asked from beside her and Beth turned her head in his direction only to see that he was awake.

“I was just outside,” she replied. “I radioed Rick and told him where we were and that we were fine.”

“That's good,” Daryl mumbled, reaching over to take her hands in his. She let him hold them as he slowly massaged heat into them again and she sighed in content before leaning into him a little.

“Did you get some rest at least?” she wondered.

“Yeah,” he said, voice still laced with some sleep. “You were right. I needed it.” He pressed a light kiss to the top of her head. “Why don't you sleep some now and I'll keep watch for about an hour or so and then start drivin'?”

“Okay,” Beth yawned, finally feeling her own tiredness seeping into her bones. “But we'll switch mid-day tomorrow. You can't be the only one who drives, Daryl.”

“I know, I know,” he said, pressing another soft kiss to her forehead this time. “We're a team, so we'll switch. Promise.”

Beth's lips turned up and she pecked him on the lips lightly before pulling her hands – which he'd warmed up for her – away from him. She pulled on her gloves and leaned back in her seat, settling herself so that she too could get some sleep. After just a moment, she felt his rough fingers brushing over the scar on her cheek and she did her best not to open her eyes again.

“Love ya so damn much, girl,” Daryl whispered to her quietly.

Beth couldn't help but smile as sleep finally took over.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! I really hope you're liking it so far! The next chapter is gonna involve a memory that I've kind of explored a little bit in the first story, but this time around, Beth is gonna get hit with the full blast of it! Either way, there's gonna be a lot of Bethyl sweetness in the chapter, so I hope you're looking forward to it! :)
> 
> Thank you for reading and don't forget to drop a comment to tell me what you thought about the chapter! ;) xx


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dreams and conversations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I'm gonna keep this note short! I'm so sorry for not updating sooner, but real life has been a mess and it still is. I also feel like maybe this story hasn't been getting as many reviews I was kind of hoping for, but those of you who have been commenting have been wonderful, so I'm not complaining! I'm just saying that it would be nice to get just a little more responses on what you guys think about the story! I'd really appreciate it and it would fuel me to write faster! :)
> 
> Please enjoy this chapter!

# A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)

## Chapter 3

  


_ D reams. _

_She knew what they were; she'd had them too many times to count, as everyone else. They were a series of thoughts, images and sensations that occurred in a person's mind during sleep – a piece of imagination conjured up by the things that surrounded one in their all-day-life._

_Beth knew what dreams were and what she was seeing in front of her now was anything but that._

_It was like she was watching a scene play out in front of her. She was herself but at the same time, she could see another girl that looked almost identical to her sitting on a chair, fingers pressing down on the keys of an old piano. The only difference between the two of them was that the Beth who was playing the instrument and singing softly didn't have any of the scars that Beth knew that her own face was sporting._

_There were lit candles surrounding her and Beth watched, listening to the lyrics of the song, trying to recall why they sounded so familiar. That was when she knew that this wasn't a dream. It couldn't be, because it was a memory._

_She watched what she could only assume to be her old self, singing the words to a song that she deep down knew that she once upon a time must have sung. Beth observed her from the side, but the other her didn't notice her presence. She moved a little closer, but as she did, she felt chills run up her spine and she turned around at the exact moment someone cleared their throat._

_Daryl was standing in the doorway and the Beth who had been playing the piano stopped abruptly and turned to face him. They spoke to one another and all Beth could do was listen. Daryl was telling the piano playing her that he had made sure that the place was locked up tight. Then, he moved toward the open casket that was a couple of meters away from the other Beth. They bantered for a little moment, the old her questioning why Daryl was laying down in the coffin and he made some bad joke about it being the most comfortable bed he'd had in years._

_Beth found herself moving closer to him, watching as the lit candles illuminated his face and drew shadows on it as he laid down and turned to face the old her._

“ _Why don't you go ahead... An' play some more?” Daryl prompted. “Keep singin'.”_

“ _I thought my singin' annoyed you?” the other Beth asked._

_Beth's heart beat a little faster as she heard him telling her that there wasn't a jukebox around and suddenly she recalled that night when they had been returning to the farm after_ _they had been attacked in the mall by some of John's men. She understood now, why she had felt Daryl tense by her side after she had asked him to keep humming and now she knew for certain why that tune had sounded so familiar to her. It was because they had had a similar conversation once, except that it had been reversed. He had been the one to tell her to keep singing and Beth knew it now for sure._

_Because this wasn't a dream. It was a memory._

-§-

Beth's eyes slowly fluttered open. Taking in her surroundings, she noticed that there seemed to be a little less snow surrounding them, but her breath still fogged up the window which meant that it was most likely cold outside. She turned toward Daryl who was driving and gave him a once over. He was more rested now, that much was clear, but he had clearly started driving again before she had woken up.

“G'mornin',” he said when he noticed she was finally awake.

Beth smiled at him and reached over to put her hand on his knee. “Good morning,” she said back, smiling when he covered her hand with his and brought hers up to his lips, giving her a small kiss on the back of it. Silence fell between them and Beth's hand remained in Daryl's, although it was a comfortable silence that she had o intention of breaking for now.

She couldn't help but think back to her dream though. It had been a strange one, that was for sure. It wasn't the first time she had had the feeling that what she dreamed was more memory than actual fiction created by her mind, but whenever she would wake up, she would once again doubt that it had happened for real. Before, when she had been alone with Morgan, those kind of dreams plagued her more than anything because she never would have thought that she would be reunited with her family again. It had been frustrating, back then, being aware deep down in her heart that she should know who the people she was dreaming about were, but not being able to put a face to the shadows behind the veil that blocked her vision from them. Her memories had begun coming back more vividly after she had been reunited with her family and it seemed as if it was their voices that triggered some of them, giving her the ability to see who it was that was speaking in her dreams.

She had talked to Daryl about it once. About how she had dreamed about a man calling her name, running after her as she was being driven away in a car somewhere. Daryl had tightened his grip on her when she had shared how she had never been able to see anything other than a silhouette in his place, but how after getting to know him and letting pieces fall into place, she had realized that he had been the one she had dreamed about. He had understood when she had explained to him that the memories sometimes were to painful to remember; how much she hurt _physically_ from remembering.

Beth cleared her throat, “How long have you been drivin'?” Her voice was a little raspy and Daryl's grip on her hand tightened slightly. Beth blinked a couple of times before squeezing her eyes shut as she felt a headache coming.

“Two hours or so,” Daryl replied. She could feel his eyes train on her. “Your head hurtin'?”

“You know me so well,” Beth muttered, rubbing her temple.

“Mhm...” Daryl hummed, not saying anything else and Beth was glad for that. She wasn't sure she could talk about the dream or memory that she had experienced while sleeping.

“I can drive in an hour, okay?” Beth shut her eyes again.

“Ya don't gotta, Beth,” Daryl said.

“I thought we agreed that we would switch,” Beth raised an eyebrow, not bothering to open her eyes. She knew that he was watching her rather than the road.

“If ya ain't feelin' well, then I don't want ya drivin',” he shared. “But as ya said, I know ya, so I know I won't be able to stop ya if ya really wanna do it.”

Beth smiled at that but made no further comment. It was good that they were on the same page about this and that Daryl understood that she wasn't going to let him to all the hard work on this trip. They needed to work together and that was the most important thing if they were going to be able to make it back to the farmhouse.

-§-

Beth had been quiet for a while now and it was slowly eating at Daryl. The two of them had switched places a couple of hours ago after they had made a short stop to radio in on Rick and the others. They had passed the border to Georgia and were now headed for North Carolina, but they needed to let the rest of their family know that the radios were still working and that they were fine. The call, however, had been cut short when five walkers stumbled out from nowhere, but even that hadn't been much of a fight considering that they had been only skin and bone, barely standing.

And now, Beth was quiet.

She was driving and Daryl was pretending to be going over the maps even though all of his focus was actually on her. He could tell that there was something on her mind and he knew that it probably had to do with the dream she had had. Sometimes she dreamed things that Daryl knew were memories and usually, when that happened, she would get those headaches and Daryl figured that it might be because the gates to her long forgotten memories opened slightly, letting something float through.

But then again, what the fuck did he know? He had certainly never had his entire memory wiped clean after being shot in the head. Daryl winced internally when he recalled that day and he was forced to actually close his eyes and force the images away from his mind. That was over. Beth was alive and breathing next to him and she wasn't going anywhere.

“A couple of miles ahead there's gonna be a small convenience store,” Daryl said, finally breaking the silence. “Eugene mapped it out for us as one of the easier targets to scavenge, but it'll prob'ly be all emptied out.”

Beth nodded slowly, “Sometimes I wonder how much time has actually passed since all of this began. I mean, what do we do when there are no more places to scavenge?”

“People will always make it, Beth,” Daryl muttered. “One way or another, the survivors out there are gonna make due of what they have.”

“Feels like we've gone back in time,” Beth mused. “It's a wonder that we've managed to siphon this much fuel from around the farm area.”

“Luck ain't got nothin' to do with it, Lil' Bird,” Daryl said. “Eugene saved us there when he started experimentin' with making fuel.”

“Can't argue with that,” Beth smiled. Daryl had noted how she always seemed happy when people would sing Eugene praises. Sure, the man was awkward as fuck sometimes, but Daryl knew that he could be too from time to time. Eugene completely lacked social skills and would normally end up making the people around him feel weird while Daryl actually _chose_ not to speak more than necessary. There was a difference between them and Daryl knew that everyone else was aware of it. Still, at times he couldn't help but draw parallels to when he had been younger; _before_ the world went to shit and all that. He had never been much of a talker and he hadn't liked people all that much, so outside of Merle, he didn't really have other people to socialize with. It hadn't bothered him back then though, but now that he had a bigger group – a family – Daryl knew that he couldn't imagine spending the rest of his life without them. He wanted to protect them and in the end, they all helped each other to survive. Things in the family had been changing over the last couple of months. The bonds had grown stronger than ever and Daryl knew that even though he wasn't actually related to any of them by blood, they were more of a family than he had ever had before.

Then there was _Beth:_ the woman he loved who always tried to see the best in people. When they had been reunited, he had wondered if that part of her was gone because she had been so hardened by having survived the gunshot and he thought for a while that she may have lost that piece of herself along the way of being forced to survive alone with Morgan. As time went by though, Daryl learned that there was more of the old Beth in her than he had ever been able to imagine. All one had to do was scratch a little on the hard surface for her to shine through and Daryl not-so-secretly loved it when Beth said something without thinking that proved to him that there was still a lot of the old her in there. It was still a fact though that he would never want her to change for him. She was hardened, yes, and she might not have wanted to give them a chance at first when they had been reunited, but it was more about her actually being _stronger_ than before. What she had gone through at the hospital – from what she had remembered and what she had told him – had been a beginning for her. Daryl sometimes wondered if her change began even before that, when the two of them had been alone and he had taken to teaching her how to hunt and track, but he wouldn't want to pride himself with taking the honor of that.

She had made it and she was stronger and better than ever before and each and every day he fell more and more in love with her. Earlier when he had been talking to Rick, she had been the one to keep watch and as soon as those walkers had stumbled toward them, she had taken out her throwing knives. Within seconds she had taken down two of the walkers all by herself and Daryl had wondered whether he would actually need to intervene, considering how well she had been handling herself with them. She was a survivor, just like him and the rest of their family and every time she reminded him of that through her actions, she made him prouder and prouder.

Even though he didn't like pushing her, Daryl wondered deep down what it was that had her so deep in thoughts today. He wondered if she would share the dream that she had had with him or if he would have to ask her about her distant mind before she actually said something about it.

Then again, Daryl found that he was always patient when it came to Beth. He knew that she would eventually speak her mind and when she did, he was certain that he would be willing to talk to her about whatever it may be that was bothering her.

-§-

Beth walked through the isles of the small convenience store, looking for anything that they might be able to take with them home. There weren't that many things for newborns to begin with, but she managed to find some pacifiers and baby bottles that had been untouched. Daryl was on the other side of the store, looking for any kind of medicine that might have been sold there as well as anything else they could find that would be useful for them later on.

There had been two walkers in the store but both had been so decayed that they hadn't even been able to move toward them. One had been the manager, obviously and the other had been a woman who had been working as a cashier. Beth wondered silently what had been their story. Had they just gone to work one day and ended up barricading themselves into the store when walkers began taking over the roads or had there been something more to them? She brushed the thoughts away though when she found an unopened bag of potato chips. She shook it and called out for Daryl who turned his head toward her and grinned when he saw what she was holding up. They both knew that the chips were most likely going to be stale as hell, but who gave them the right to be picky in a world where everything was slowly disappearing from existence? Then again, now that she actually thought about it, they might be able to make their own chips from the potatoes they planted at the farm. Why hadn't they thought about that idea before? It would surely make those lazy evenings when they would stay up all night playing cards and board games more fun for them.

Her mind traveled to her family back on the farm. She hadn't gotten the chance to speak to Maggie or Morgan yet and she had to admit that she missed them a lot. Then again, she missed everyone from the farm, but she was so used to always having Morgan there to talk to about her dreams and Maggie was her only blood relative, and she was pregnant. Beth wondered how she was doing despite the fact that she knew that the others were watching out for her sister. Them watching out for Maggie didn't mean that Beth couldn't miss her and right now, she needed someone to talk to first before approaching Daryl with the dream she'd had.

Although, maybe she wouldn't need to talk to someone else first? Daryl's her partner in every way and she trusted him with her life and more. She loved him, so a part of her didn't really understand why she was being reluctant to talk to him about it. It wasn't as if she hadn't talked to him about her dreams before, but for some reason, since this was a memory more vivid than most of the others that she had gotten back, Beth was kind of nervous about it all.

They were in such a good place right now that Beth was a little scared that Daryl might start expecting her to remember even more if such a detailed dream truly turned out to be a memory. Another thing she was afraid of was Daryl being upset for her bringing up the past. She knew that he had been through a lot emotionally when he had thought that she was dead. The things he had told her about those months he had been without her proved more than anything how much he had been hurting and she didn't want to remind him of a time that had led up to them being separated. It would be painful, both for him and for her, and Beth didn't know if she could bring herself to bring it up.

“Jackpot,” Daryl grinned, lifting a pack of cigarettes in her direction. Beth rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help but smirk at him. “After we're done here, I'm gonna take a smoke and you can stretch your legs for a little longer.”

“Sounds good,” Beth agreed, looking at some old gift cards.

She needed to get her head straight and she needed to make a decision. Daryl deserved to know that she had remembered something and she was kind of curious to know about it all; her past. The worst thing about it all though was that Beth had felt Daryl's eyes on her all day long and she knew that he knew her well enough to see that something was off with her. She was being distant without actually meaning to and Daryl was smart. He didn't need her to tell him that something was wrong or that something was on her mind and for the first time since they had started this trip, Beth missed the farmhouse.

There, she would have been able to just lay in their bed all day and he would come to her after doing whatever it was he was working on then, or they would have gone on a hunting trip again and talked it all out then. Either way, she would have had time to think things through and figure out a good way to approach him on the topic.

Beth sighed to herself.

Her head was pounding again.

-§-

Daryl took another drag from the cigarette between his thumb and forefinger. A little further away from him, Beth was stretching. Daryl enjoyed watching her do that and he imagined if any other man had a partner like he had, they wouldn't exactly be shy about enjoying watching them stretch out limbs that from time to time wrapped around their own hips as they pounded into their partners tight body.

Except, this time around, Daryl wasn't watching her because he enjoyed it. It had to do with _why_ she was doing it. Normally when she did it, it was just about relaxation after a long day, but today Daryl knew that it was about the tension that had been set in her shoulders all day. Something had been going on and Daryl knew the signs, but he wouldn't push. He had a feeling that she was slowly reaching that point where she knew that she had no other choice but to talk to him.

His nerves were getting the better of him though. He wanted to be there for her more than ever, maybe because they were alone, or maybe just because he knew that deep down she needed him to be. Perhaps that was why he finally spoke up.

“Beth,” he said, blowing out the smoke through his nose. Him saying her name – no matter how quiet it might have been – turned her attention to him and he watched her as she frowned a little.

“Yeah?”

“Are ya good?”

Beth watched him for another moment before nodding. He kept looking at her, taking another drag from his smoke without taking his eyes off of her. Finally, she sighed.

“I had a dream,” she admitted.

Daryl nodded, “Figured as much.” Another drag of the cigarette. “Wanna talk about it?”

She seemed to hesitate but finally she spoke and Daryl hated himself for freezing for a moment.

“I dreamed about a funeral home. I was playing the piano and you were watching me,” she said.

Daryl remembered that night. He remembered that time.

“We should keep drivin' if we wanna get those other stores before headin' over to North Carolina,” Daryl said, looking away from her for a moment.

When he looked at her again, he cursed himself for not expressing himself in another way. It was clear that she thought that he didn't want to talk about it all, even though he actually was willing to do so. All he needed was a little moment to wrap his mind around the whole thing.

“Okay,” Beth said, getting in the passenger seat before he had the chance to say another word. She closed the door and Daryl just knew that he might have fucked things up a little.

He threw the cigarette in the snow, angry with himself before walking around the truck, getting in the driver's seat.

They had been on the road again for about half an hour before he spoke again. Beth had tried to not make it awkward by taking out some food and offering him some but he knew her well enough to sense that she still thought that he had dismissed her earlier. It ate at him, knowing that he had unintentionally hurt her feelings by speaking the way he had and he knew that he wanted to make things right again.

“It's real,” he mumbled, glancing her way. He could feel it in his bones when her eyes settled on him and he knew that she was waiting for him to continue. “The funeral home… It happened.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Beth put down the bag of chips that she had begun munching on as dessert. “Will you tell me about it?” she asked him, sounding like she genuinely wanted to know.

“Hm… Don't even know where to begin,” he admitted. “It was after we burned down that shack. We'd been walking for a good coupl'a days when we came across it. You'd hurt your ankle and I had to carry ya.”

“You carried me?” She sounded amused by the thought. He'd carried her quite a few times since they had gotten together, but he assumed that she thought it was funny that he had done it before as well. He had never actually told her about that piggyback ride.

“Yeah,” he drawled. “An' ya were heavier than ya looked. Even told ya that and you just laughed right at me,” he shared, earning himself a giggle. His own mouth twitched, glad that they were good again but he knew he needed to keep telling the story. “We found the place an' it seemed safe enough. There was food and there weren't any walkers 'round so we decided to stay for the night. Ya found that piano while I was making sure we were locked in safely,” he shared.

“I remember, you saying something about the place being locked up tight,” Beth said. She was turned toward him now in her seat, like someone who was listening intently to a story being told.

“I watched ya play for a while… The things I felt for ya then, they were nothin' compared to what I feel now,” he said. “You were my only companion then an' I had never really spent time with ya alone before then. But ya made me see you,” he turned toward her, meeting her eyes, knowing that there wasn't anything on the road in front of them anyway for him to hit by accident. “I _saw_ you, that night, when you were playin' an' I didn't know it back then, but I know now that that was the moment I knew that I wouldn't be able to live without ya.”

At his admission, Beth's eyes softened even more and her mouth fell slightly open. He held her gaze for another moment before turning away from her, settling them on the road again.

“The next evening, ya asked me what changed my mind about good people existin',” he said. “I had told ya that we could stay there and in case whoever it was that had been living there ever came back, we could make it work. I wanted ya to be happy there… 'Cause I was almost starting to be.”

“Daryl, you don't have to tell me if you don't wanna,” Beth said quietly. It was clear that she could sense that what was coming was painful for him, but he needed to keep going.

“I froze, Beth,” he sighed. “I chickened out an' didn't tell ya that _you_ were the reason I'd changed my mind about people. Ya got it then, I think, 'cause ya just looked at me an' I knew that ya knew… Then a dog we'd seen the day before started makin' noises an' I went to the door 'cause I just needed to get away. I didn't know what ya were gonna say but I was sure that it wasn't gonna be pretty. I probably scared ya–”

“Daryl,” Beth interrupted him. “I may not remember everything from before, but I can tell you that there is no way in hell that I would have been scared by you.” Her tone was firm and decided and Daryl couldn't help but swallow tightly.

“Ya were younger then,” he told her. “More innocent an' I was a lot older than you… Still am.”

“And it hasn't been bothering either of us or our family, so why bring it up now?” Beth wondered.

“It was just how I felt back then,” he said. “I know it don't matter none now. I know how ya feel about me, 'cause ya tell me.”

Beth reached over and placed her hand over his on the steering wheel. “What happened next?” she asked, pressing him to continue. Daryl took a deep breath.

“I opened the door an' there were walkers everywhere,” he said. “I told ya to run and meet me by the road, but ya yelled that ya weren't gonna leave me. I kept tellin' ya to run an' ya did an' then, after I fought my way out of there, I saw that you'd been taken.”

“The people at the hospital, right?”

“Didn't know that then,” Daryl said. “Weeks had passed before I even got a clue to where ya were. I tried runnin' after the car, but I couldn't. I'm sorry.”

Beth squeezed his hand tightly again. “It means the world to me that you looked for me, Daryl,” she said. “Even though things went as they did, I'm glad that we're together now because I sure as hell can't imagine my life without you either.” She leaned over and pressed her lips against his cheek before pecking his lips as well. “Thank you for telling me about it,” she whispered. “I know it couldn't have been easy.”

“We need to move forward, right? Can't stay stuck in the past,” he said, remembering her words from the moonshine shack. They were here now, together, and the things that had happened before couldn't be changed now. He sometimes wished he could go back, but he knew that there was no way of knowing if things would have had the same outcome. He and Beth might never have ended up together, or maybe they would have been together sooner. There was no way of knowing, which meant that there was no point in dwelling on it.

“I love you, Daryl,” Beth spoke beside him, “and I promise that the next time you stop this car, I'm gonna kiss you properly to show you just how much I do.” Daryl felt a smile tugging on his lips again and he couldn't help himself.

Beth laughed out loud when he began slowing the car down and his chest felt like a huge weight had been lifted and his heart a lot easier.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww, Daryl! So, what did you guys think? I know this chapter was a little filler-y, but don't forget that even in these chapters, I'm planting seeds for future chapters!
> 
> So, to get the reviews going a little, please answer there questions:
> 
> 1\. What did you like the most about this chapter?
> 
> 2\. Is there some memory that you would like me to address in particular and have Beth and Daryl talk about? (I have another one planned, but I'm not telling which one!)
> 
> 3\. What do you think will happen next?
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and I would really, really, really appreciate it if you guys took some time to write a little review! It doesn't even have to be a big one, but I would really like to know what you think! :)
> 
> Have a lovely day/night/whatever time it is where you live! xx


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Daryl continue their adventures on the road and decide to take a small break.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking this long to update! I've been very busy in school, but fortunately, I have one more exam on the 19th before Winter break starts and I've already started with chapter 5, which means that the next update will be up faster!
> 
> Thank you so much to everyone who has commented so far! I really appreciate it you guys and I really didn't want to come across as ungrateful last time. I love each and everyone of you and I just wanted to know if you guys thought that the story was going in a good direction or not, and I really didn't want anyone to think that I was greedy for reviews. Any kind of feedback is awesome though, so it's still very much appreciated! :)
> 
> The story is moving a little slowly, I know, and there is a lot of looking into the mind of Beth and Daryl and looking at their feelings and so on, but I promise that in a few more chapters (around ch. 7 or 8, I think) things will start happening! Have faith in me, please and I'm going to provide you guys with a story that I hope you'll enjoy! :)

# A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)

## Chapter 4

  
  


“ _How's the Lil' Lady doin'?”_ Morgan asked over the talkie-device. “ _Hope the two of you haven't been slacking._ ”

Daryl almost snorted at the older man, but out of respect, he refrained from doing so. “Nah, we haven't been slackin',” he replied. “We're getting' closer to the border of North Carolina, but we figured we could stop at one more place before we try to find somewhere to hold up for the night.”

“ _I'm guessin' that sleeping in the truck can't be very comfortable_ ,” Morgan mused and Daryl hummed in agreement.

They had been on the road for a few days now since they had talked about the funeral home. Things had become easy between them again and Daryl was glad that Beth had actually taken the step to tell him what had been on her mind. During the days that they had been heading toward North Carolina, they had also been stopping at the places that Eugene had marked out for them. There had been a couple of run-ins with a few walkers, but nothing that they hadn't been able to handle. After discussing things, they had decided to avoid the bigger stores, knowing that there were probably more dead ones in them than they would be able to take care of alone.

“Yeah, it can get a lil' cramped,” Daryl told Morgan, answering the question about the truck not being very comfortable.

“ _Mhm_ … _I'm sure you make it work_ ,” Morgan replied, once again sounding amused. Daryl couldn't believe that the man still enjoyed teasing him like this now that he and Beth were together. It had begun about a month after they had become official with subtle quips and teasing remarks. Beth usually brushed them off with a smile but Daryl had been uncomfortable in the beginning, expecting the man who saw Beth as a daughter to be more upset with him – a man almost twice her age – being with her. Morgan had made sure to let him know that he didn't mind the two of them together at all. In fact, it seemed like Morgan actually did mean all the things he had said to Daryl about believing that he was a good man. As time went on, Daryl learned to live with the teasing and Morgan was free to continue with the small comments.

“ _By the way, you never told me how our girl was doin',_ ” Morgan pointed out. “ _Is she feelin' any better?_ ”

“She's good now,” Daryl said. Beth and Morgan had had a short conversation a couple of nights ago and Beth had told him about the headache that still lingered. Daryl knew that she still hurt sometimes early in the mornings, but he knew that there was no reason to worry Morgan since he couldn't exactly be there for her at the moment.

“ _The headache's gone?_ ”

“Yeah,” Daryl nodded, glancing toward Beth who was leaning against the truck, watching him speak to her adoptive father. Beth grimaced but nodded back at him. She had agreed that the best thing to do was not have Morgan worrying about her. Her headaches sometimes remained for a few days, so she hadn't actually thought it could be anything serious.

“ _Stay safe, you two_ ,” Morgan finally said. “ _Rick's comin' back from his run with Abraham and Michonne, so I gotta help 'em get the things they brought back unloaded. I'll fill him in on your location and you two make sure to stay in touch_.”

“Of course,” Daryl said. “Tell Rick not to fill the place up with useless crap, 'cause Beth an' I are gonna be bringin' back some good shit.”

Morgan chuckled, “ _Will do, my friend._ ”

Daryl turned the radio off and put it back in the backpack before moving to stand in front of Beth. Sighing, he moved forward, standing with his feet slightly apart so that he could stand closer to her. Placing his hands on her hips, he leaned down, resting his forehead against hers. He closed his eyes and just breathed her in for a moment before opening them again and looking into her baby blues.

“You okay?” he asked.

Beth nudged his nose with her own before smiling lightly at him. “I'm doing better,” she told him and she sounded like she was being honest about it too. “I'm just a little tired. From being on the road all the time,” she then admitted.

Daryl pulled back for a moment and gave her a once over. He knew that she was tired because he was exhausted as well. Being on the road for so many days without actually resting properly was tearing them both down slowly and he knew that they probably needed a couple of days to rest.

“Maybe we should take a coupl'a days off?” Daryl suggested, leaning down again to rest his chin against Beth's shoulder. He turned his head and buried his nose in her neck and in that moment, he realized just how much he had missed being with her like that.

“What do you mean?” Beth wondered, her breath hitching when he pressed his lips against the side of her neck, nibbling the skin there softly. “Daryl, we're out in the open,” she giggled then, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders.

“I know, Girl,” Daryl smiled against her skin. “Just missed ya, s'all.”

“Well, you should know that the feeling is mutual,” Beth said, cupping his cheeks before bringing his lips down to hers.

They kissed slowly for a minute, just enjoying the taste and the feel of the other. Daryl groaned when Beth bit his lower li p gently. Opening his mouth, he allowed her to deepen the kiss and his grip on her hips tightened when she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair, tugging on the strands.  Daryl was lightly rocking forward against her, but they didn't break apart until they both felt him reacting to her touch. This wasn't something they had time to get into, no matter how much both of them may have wanted it  in that moment.

Beth cleared her throat and licked her lips, “What did you say about taking a couple of days off?”

“After we scavenge one more place, we can find us a place to stay and rest up for a few days,” Daryl replied, pressing his lips against hers for another short kiss.

“Hmm…” Beth hummed against him. “Maybe we could use one of those days for some _proper_ alone time?” Daryl smiled to himself when her grip on his shirt tightened as she pulled him back in for another kiss.

Damn. He had missed her.

“M'kay,” he agreed. “Let's just get this last lil' store an' then we'll find a place,” he told her.

“Yeah,” Beth smiled, before bringing his head down to brush her lips against his, one more time.

-§-

Beth brushed her fingers against one of her knives in her thigh holster. She was already holding her hunting knife in one hand, but she needed to have quick access to her other knives in case more walkers appeared.

Since she and Daryl were alone, they had decided to go through a small convenience store, hoping to find some more baby supplies. Daryl had knocked on the front door so that any walkers that were still alive inside would be drawn out by the sound. It was a technique that Beth herself had often used with Morgan as well when she had been on the road with him, so she didn't question it. Three walkers had stumbled toward the entrance and they had disposed of them quickly and efficiently. Then Daryl had decided to take a walk around the store and see if there was a way to get in through the back and Beth had been left standing there on the parking lot, prepared to get them out of there if they needed a quick escape.

She knew that she needed to stay focused on the task, although Daryl had been gone for too long already and she was itching to just follow him to see where he had gone off to. A part of her was afraid that he might have gotten caught or something, but she knew that he could take care of himself and she figured that if he had been attacked she would have heard gunshots by now. Daryl was capable of staying alive better than anyone else. In her eyes, he had been built for this world and she had told him so several times when they had been laying in bed together after sex. He didn't like it very much when she complimented him like that, even though she only did so when he told her some stories from his past, from before the Outbreak.

Beth smiled to herself a little, remembering how good it felt to wake up in his arms. From time to time, she was actually the one embracing him and those days were usually spent with her teasing him about being the small spoon because he knew that she was stronger than him. Daryl didn't mind the joking, although later when they went to bed, he would always make sure to pin her down and ask her to clarify once more who was the stronger one as he made her squirm beneath him with nothing but his tongue.

Beth couldn't help but shudder, thinking back to the moment the two of them had shared earlier that day. It had been a while since they had kissed properly like that and she had missed it immensely. Daryl had made sure to tell her that he had missed being with her too and she was already looking forward to finding some place to stay for a couple of nights so that they could re-charge. Of course, she was looking forward to finally being able to relax a bit as well. Being intimate with Daryl was more than just being with him sexually. Sometimes, it was enough for him to just hold her hand and she would consider it an intimate touch, considering just how he made her feel.

That didn't mean that she didn't miss the sex though.

Beth lifted her head when she heard footsteps approaching and she turned her head in the direction of the sound. She raised her knife but lowered it again once she saw Daryl walking toward her, carrying a couple of bags with him. Frowning at him, she tilted her head to the side curiously as she took in the blood smeared on the front of his jacket.

“What happened?” Beth wondered. “What did you do?”

“Found a way in through the back,” he told her.

“And you didn't come and get me?” Beth asked, shooting him a glare. “Daryl–”

“Didn't see no point in comin' all the way back to get ya when I could do the job myself,” he explained. “'Sides, this way ya kept watch in case some other people came 'round.”

“It would have been nice to have been filled in on _my job,_ ” Beth said, still glaring at him. “And the blood?”

“One fucker jumped outta nowhere, but I took care of him.”

“ _Daryl_ ,” Beth snapped. “This is _not_ okay.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she watched him put the bags in the trunk. He was looking toward her uncertainly and she could tell from the looks that he was sending her that he knew that he had made the wrong call to keep her out of the loop like this. They were supposed to be working together, not behind each others backs.

“'M sorry,” he finally said, walking toward her. He placed his hands on her hips again but she just shook her head at him, keeping her arms crossed as she turned away. He caught her chin between his thumb and his forefinger, pulling her back around to face him. She met his eyes and her anger softened slightly when she took in his appearance again. “I shouldn't have done what I did,” he quietly said. “I know that what I did was wrong and I should'a waited and gotten you.”

“I get that we're alone, Daryl,” Beth sighed, uncrossing her arms. “It might have been easier if we had been four or three instead, but we're not, so we only have each other to lean on in all of this. That means that I can't be worried that you're going to make the decision to just go into a store without me knowing, ever again.”

She was tired of having the same argument all over again. That was what it felt like to her anyways. It was always him trying to protect her and keep her safe because he was scared of losing her. She understood that he loved her and that he knew that she actually _could_ protect herself. Still, the fact that he had lost her twice before – once when she had been taken from him and the other time when she had been presumed dead because she had been shot in the head – made it more difficult for him not to act on his own when he had the chance. Beth understood where he was coming from, even though it didn't mean that she would just accept him putting himself in danger like that to protect her.

“I know, I'm sorry,” Daryl whispered, his grip on her hips tightening slightly again.

“And you best remember that, or else I'll have to put a leash on you,” Beth told him, trying to sound stern, but she knew that there was no way of going back and since he was actually fine, she figured they should be moving on now that they were on the same page.

“Hmm,” Daryl hummed, “that sounds more like a promise.” His tone was once again teasing.

Beth only smirked. “What did you find in there?” she asked, ignoring his remark.

“Some canned food and powdered milk,” he told her, letting go of her hips long enough to zip up his jacked. “And _this_ ,” he said, taking out a map. “Looked at it and there's a small road a couple of miles down. Should take us to a lake where we might find a cabin or something to stay in.”

“Like a hunting cabin?”

“Yeah,” he nodded.

Beth felt a smile cross her lips again. “Considering just how well you and I spend our time in cabins, I'm all for it.”

-§-

The cabin they found reminded her a little about the cabin back home. It wasn't as big, but it was cozy in its own way and Beth was happy that there hadn't been any walkers that they needed to dispose of inside. It seemed as if there actually hadn't been anyone there for years though, so she knew that if they planned on staying there for a few nights, they would need to clean the place up a bit. Daryl had already shared his excitement for going out on a hunt in the morning and Beth had agreed to stay behind since she still wasn't feeling very well after her last memory episode.

The one thing that the cabin didn't have was a separate bedroom. Instead, there was a pullout-couch in the middle of the big room that served as both a kitchen and a living room. When Beth had pulled it out and seen some stains on it she hadn't been able to hide her distaste, but she knew that they couldn't exactly be picky with what they found. Luckily, though, it seemed like Daryl had thought of the possibility of the place they found not being very clean, so he had gotten some of the new sheets they had found in some other stores earlier that week out of the truck. He told her that it was better they use them to sleep on than risk getting some kind of infection from whatever was on the stained mattress.

Another thing they had been incredibly lucky with was that the cabin was located directly by the lake. It had probably been used as some kind of fishing cabin for people who had spent their weekends there and Daryl hadn't wasted any time getting some water from the lake to heat up and clean up with.

Beth had started heating up their food as he washed up in the small bathroom and she couldn't wait to get some time to clean up herself. She'd missed being with Daryl in another way than just sitting next to him in the car and either driving or chatting with him, and she had to admit that she was beginning to get a bit frustrated as well.

Back on the farm, she and Daryl never went longer than three days without sex. Sure, it wasn't exactly a life-or-death thing in their relationship, although Beth did enjoy it immensely and considering that Daryl did too, they hadn't exactly been holding back when it came to it. Not only was it a great way to pass time or exhaust themselves after long days of doing nothing in particular, but it was always special between the two of them. It seemed like even the times that they thought it would be a meaningless quickie to release tension or to just get pleasure from one another, it ended up becoming more for them. It was never just mindless fucking and that was something that made Beth love Daryl even more. Of course, she didn't have anything to compare it with, but she knew that whatever she may have had with Zach most likely hadn't been the same as what she shared with Daryl now.

“M'done if ya wanna wash up now,” Daryl spoke behind her, making her jump a little. She turned around to face him and noticed that there was a small smirk playing on his lips. It was no surprise that he enjoyed whenever he was able to sneak up on her because Beth knew that she was the same way about him.

“Will you keep heatin' up the food then?” Beth asked him and he nodded. She smiled at him before pecking his cheek and hurrying over to the small bathroom. He had left her a whole bucket of water and by now it was lukewarm, which was absolutely perfect in her world after having gone days without a shower.

_'No! No, no, no!'_

Beth paused as she scrubbed her skin, looking at herself in the small mirror on the wall. There was a voice in her head again that sounded a bit distant and she swallowed thickly as she felt a wave of nausea come in along with a head ache. She closed her eyes and winced, putting her hand to her head; she hated when this happened to her.

There were sounds in her mind that she knew were not real; loud noises, such as gun shots and screams from people she couldn't remember. It happened sometimes and it had been happening a lot recently and Beth didn't understand why her brain was being triggered like this now when she needed to be the most alert. She was alone with Daryl and she couldn't risk their safety by not being ready for a fight. What was she supposed to do if she got a sudden head ache in the middle of a fight?

She shook her head, trying to clear the foggy feeling. As soon as it had come, it had gone away and Beth let out a shaky breath, glad that she wouldn't be getting another memory back tonight. She really needed some rest.

After finishing up with washing herself, Beth got changed into a pair of sweats and one of Daryl's shirts. There didn't seem to be any threats in the area, but they could never be careful enough. There was no way that they would be sleeping in clothes that would have them freezing if they needed to run and Beth quite enjoyed sleeping in Daryl's shirts anyway. It made her feel at home, which was why he allowed her free access to his closet. That, and the fact that he loved her.

Beth smiled to herself again when she stepped out of the bathroom, only to find Daryl on the floor, on top of a blanket.

“Figured ya wouldn't wanna get the clean sheets dirty,” he shrugged, motioning to the two bowls of food that he had prepared for them. In the middle of the blanket, he had placed a couple of candles and a part of Beth wondered briefly if he had been trying to be romantic, or if it had actually just been a practical thing to do, considering that it was already dark outside and that they didn't have any electricity.

“Well, at least not yet,” Beth couldn't help but joke and Daryl met her gaze immediately, his eyes darkening slightly before his expression softened.

“Don't know, lil' Bird,” he told her, scratching his beard. “Kinda tired tonight.”

Beth tilted her head, her lips twitching into a warm smile. He was just adorable sometimes. “Daryl, we don't have to. I'd love to just lay next to you all night long,” she said. “I get that you're not up for it, because honestly? I'm a little tired myself.”

“'Not up for it'…” Daryl shook his head and Beth couldn't help but giggle at her poor choice of words.

“You know what I mean,” she smiled. “Just being with you here tonight and getting some actual sleep will be enough. We'll lock up tight and then go to bed after we eat.”

Daryl visibly relaxed and Beth's heart felt just a little warmer at his next words.

“Love ya so damn much, lil' Bird.”

-§-

The next morning Daryl woke up with his head on Beth's chest and his arms wrapped around her middle. She was still asleep – he could tell by her even breathing – and one of her hands rested on his bicep while her other was on top of his head, fingers buried in his hair. He let out a small breath, closing his eyes again and just took in her scent, giving himself a few more minutes to just _be_ with her.

Last night the two of them had agreed that they would stay in the cabin for a few days, but Daryl had insisted on going out and checking the surrounding area. They'd agreed that he would go out on his own since he had been able to tell that Beth wasn't really feeling well and he had promised that he would be back as soon as he could. Still, it didn't change the fact that he wanted to give himself the chance to just enjoy that he had finally been able to wake up next to Beth in a bed.

After days of being on the road, he'd welcomed the squeaky pullout-couch as if it was the most comfortable king-sized bed in the country and he knew that Beth wasn't complaining either. The night before they had been too tired to make use of the bed in any other way than just sleeping in it, although they hadn't been able to keep their hands off of each other too much. A rather intense make-out session had left Daryl feeling like he was a teenager again – without all the awkwardness – but it hadn't progressed to anything beyond kissing and holding one another. He didn't mind it at all though, because he had been glad that they had even been able to do that considering how exhausted they had both been.

Daryl new that it was still early and he didn't really want to wake Beth up since he didn't know how she would be feeling today. Since the day that she had remembered some from their time in the funeral home, he knew that she had been getting headaches on and off. From experience Daryl was aware of the fact that there was nothing he could to to help her ease the pain, except for letting her get the rest she needed. Still, he didn't want to leave her without telling her that he was leaving and besides, considering that she was all wrapped around him, he couldn't exactly get out of bed without waking her.

He tightened his grip on her a little, turning his head so that he could look up at her face. Her lips were slightly parted and her face relaxed and he smiled to himself, thinking about just how beautiful she was. He managed to reach up and brush his thumb against the scar under her chin, which was visible from his angle and he pushed down the bad feeling he always got in his gut whenever he was reminded of how he had almost lost her. It was that feeling that drove him to act the way he did with her sometimes. He knew that they were supposed to be equals and that she was just as good at keeping them safe as he was, though a part of him still wanted to be the one to protect her. That was why he was usually so torn between doing what he wanted and doing what he knew was right. She had argued with him so many times about letting her take care of herself and he knew that he should be okay with her doing that because he knew that she was capable of it. She had proven herself time and time and again, and yet, he was still making stupid-ass decisions such as going into that store alone because he didn't want her to have to strain herself. He knew that she wasn't okay yet after having gotten that memory back and maybe he was using that as an excuse to justify his own behavior since they had started on this trip together. Still, there was no way that Beth was going to just keep forgiving him for doing things like that. Daryl saw her as a partner and he didn't want her to think that he didn't just because he did those things from time to time. It was just easier for him to do it because it was kind of the way he had always been before the world went to shit. He hadn't been lying when he had told her back at that moonshine shack that he had never needed to rely on anyone for anything. Sure, he had changed a lot since he had met Rick and the others, but at times it was easy to just slip back into that person that he used to be, at least when it came to doing things and getting things done. It was wrong and he wanted to get better at just being the person he had become because he simply couldn't afford slipping back into that darkness again.

Daryl knew that he needed to get up and face the day though. A couple of hours in the woods alone would probably do him some good and he would be able to figure out a way to just keep himself on track with this entire issue. He shifted a little on the bed and lifted his head before trying to push Beth away a little so that he would be able to get out of bed, however, his girl just tightened her grip on him, mumbling his name.

“Beth,” he whispered back, seeing her eyelids begin to flutter. “I'm gonna need ya to let go of me so I can get dressed.”

“Just a few more minutes,” Beth mumbled, lowering her self a little on the bed so that she could place her head on his chest instead. Daryl sighed, wrapping his arms around her small form.

“I need to head out,” he told her. “Wanna come back earlier so that we can...” he trailed off when he felt her drawing circles on his chest, fingers trailing downward. He swallowed thickly, immediately feeling the effect her touch had on him and just before Beth's fingers could brush against the button of his pants, he grabbed her wrist. “Nah, can't right now, lil' Bird,” he said, even though it took everything in him to say it. He wanted her, _so bad_ , but he couldn't do that right now.

“Later then,” Beth smiled against his skin when she lifted her head enough to brush her lips against his jaw. “I love you.”

“Love you,” he said, bending to kiss her lightly before pulling away. “Ya should rest up. When I get back we can clean a little.”

“As long as we get to finish this as well,” Beth grinned.

“Yeah,” Daryl nodded. “We'll do that.” He kissed her again and brushed some loose strands away from her face before cupping her chin gently. “I'll be back in a coupl'a hours. 'Kay?”

Beth only smiled as she grabbed his shirt, pulling him close again and he allowed her, because who was he to deny the woman he loved to steal a kiss from him?

So he kissed her back and he smiled, because he had never felt more like himself.

-§-

Beth laid on her stomach, resting, just like Daryl had suggested she do. He was right when he had told her that she hadn't quite been herself since her memory of them at the funeral home had come back. She needed her rest and she needed to clear her head just as much as Daryl did. Beth wasn't naive to not know why he had gone out today. She knew that a part of her was still upset with him for once again making the decision to go in alone, even though they were supposed to be a team and she knew that he too was aware of the fact that he had been wrong to go about things that way. This was something they needed to work though together though, but until they could, Daryl needed to sort out his own thoughts just as much as Beth needed to sort out hers.

She needed her rest though, and she knew that. Yet, she couldn't help but feel antsy over something and she knew that she needed to get out of bed so that she too could get some fresh air. Ever since her brief memory flash the night before, when she had just heard herself repeating and screaming the word 'no' she had felt as if she had a fever coming on. Being alone with Daryl on the road was dangerous enough and Beth knew that she couldn't afford getting ill. She had been trying to rest all day long, but she just couldn't lay around in bed all day long because it would make her feel useless.

So she got up and decided to get a head-start on the cleaning.

It happened when she was halfway done with fixing the bed and Beth just knew that she should have listened to Daryl. A sudden dizziness washed over her and pain exploded in her head so suddenly that she was forced to hold on to the counter of the small kitchenette where she had been sorting through the cabinets. Her breaths came out in pants and she squeezed her eyes out and grit her teeth as images began flooding in.

She saw herself – a younger her – pushing someone away so that she could run to a body that was on the ground. She was sobbing as she took a hold of the woman that seemed to have been dead for quite some time and then, she felt the walker grab her hair as it tried to pull her neck closer to its mouth.

Beth let out a gasp, her eyes snapping open just in time with a gunshot going off inside her mind. She knew that it was a memory and she hated the fact that they still had such an effect on her whenever she remembered something.

Swallowing, Beth knew that she needed to get going. She couldn't just sit around all day long and let herself be consumed with thoughts of who the female walker that had grabbed her had been. She didn't want to think about it, but she knew that she needed to ask Daryl about it. There was no way that she would be making the same mistake of keeping a memory from him when she knew that he would most likely sense that something was up with her once again. As soon as he got back to the cabin, she would tell him what she had seen and if he knew what it was, he would tell her.

Beth began cleaning again and soon enough, she had dusted off everything that needed dusting inside the cabin. However, she was still feeling a little off so she decided that she should probably get some buckets of water from the lake. Daryl had left the two buckets they had used to wash up with in the bathroom, so she went and got those before walking out of the house. She made sure to have her knives and her gun with her, just in case, but from what she could hear, there didn't seem to be a living or undead thing in the woods surrounding her. After filling the buckets, she began to head back to the cabin again, when suddenly another pained flash seared through her head. Beth winced, stumbling over a root, but she caught herself just before she could fall. The buckets though, weren't as lucky, because she dropped them on the ground with such a force that they both spilled their contents and one of them fell on a bigger stone and cracked a little on the bottom. Beth didn't even have time to curse herself when another memory flashed in her mind.

This time, she remembered the sound of a motorcycle. She remembered herself working on a farm and then hearing the sound of an engine being revved. The young her looked up and saw a man driving up toward the farm and it took a moment for Beth to make sense of him until she recognized him as Daryl. She glanced to her side and saw another man, a young boy wearing a cowboy hat stopping his work as well as she turned to take in the man that had then been a stranger to her, as he drove up to her home.

Beth rubbed her eyes, as she began taking quick steps back to the cabin. She couldn't be out there in the open when her brain seemed to be acting up on her, letting her remember things that had been long forgotten. All these small bits and pieces of memories were taking their toll on her and she knew that if she didn't lay down, she would fall over for real.

She had just reached the steps of the cabin, though, when a shorter memory came back to her. She recalled holding on to a woman with blonde and curly hair, trying desperately to pull her with her into a car as the woman was ripped to shreds in front of her by walkers. Beth couldn't move any further and all she could do was sit herself down on the steps and try to calm her breathing. It was cold outside, but she felt as if her skin was burning and she could feel sweat beading on her forehead.

Daryl had been gone for a few hours and even though she knew that she should head inside, he was probably going to return soon. Slowly, she pealed away her jacked, trying to remove the restriction she was feeling over her chest. It felt like her entire body was cramping up and a wave of nausea hit her, but she tried to keep it all down and breathe through her nose. Daryl would be back soon and she would be okay. She would ask him about the memories and they would be stay in the cabin for a few days so that she could rest up. She was just tired; tired and exhausted. He would need the rest just as much as she did and hopefully, he wouldn't be mad at her for just waiting on him outside.

She needed to be there because with what she was feeling in her chest, she felt like if she took one more step, she would keel over and never be able to get up again.

-§-

Daryl made his way back toward the cabin. It was still quiet around him and he took a couple of more deep breaths, letting the cool air fill his lungs and relax him even further. He had had a lot to think about today and he had decided that he would try to be better at not just doing things without checking with Beth first. He had been foolish that day at the store when he had gone in without her, because he now understood that she would probably have had no way of knowing what had happened to him if he hadn't returned. She would have gone to look for him and what would she have found if he actually hadn't been able to take care of that walker when it had sneaked up on him? She would have found him dead and he just knew that that would have broken her. He had been though losing her before and back then he hadn't even acknowledged the fact that he had loved her. He could imagine the pain she would have gone through if something had happened to him because he knew that he too would have felt the same anguish if anything had happened to her.

He needed to apologize to her when he got back. Even though they had been fine last night and this morning, he knew that what had happened was gnawing at her just as much as it was messing with his head. He had been in the wrong and he knew that he had to just suck it up and apologize properly. He'd caught them a rabbit to cook later too, so hopefully, once they were both sated and fully made up, they could get back to the thing Beth had been about to start this morning.

Daryl had reluctantly left the bed, but he had promised her that they would get around to actually having some time alone like they had needed ever since they had left the farm. He would just need to check in with Rick and the others one more time before they ate and then, they would be free until the early morning and in the meantime, they would be able to do whatever they wanted.

As Daryl approached the cabin, he immediately noticed Beth. She was sitting on the steps, in nothing but a thin shirt and Daryl frowned, seeing instantly that something was off with her. Her jacket was next to her and her head was buried in her hands. Something was definitely up and Daryl felt a pang of worry flood him instantly. He picked up his steps, eyes set on her form.

“Beth,” he called out softly, not wanting to alert anything that might be lurking in the woods, even though they seemed to be all alone and he hadn't come across a single walker on his hunt.

Beth looked up at him and he noticed how her eyes seemed glazed over. He recognized the signs and he could read them well enough to know what was happening to her. She was having one of those days where her brain had opened a gate and memories flooded in, not giving her a chance to take a single breath in-between. Those were the days where everything was bad for her and she would usually spend those days in bed, feeling sick all the time.

Her skin was paler than usual, but her lips looked almost blue. How long had she been out here in the cold? Daryl dropped the rabbit he was carrying and ran toward her just as she stood up and took a shaky step toward him. He reached her just as her eyes rolled back and she collapsed against him and Daryl dropped with her to the ground, cradling her in his arms as he mumbled her name over and over again, trying to shake her awake.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh-oh. A little bit of drama in there too, among some (hopefully) sweet Bethyl moments! The next chapter is going to be a little shorter and I am shamelessly telling you guys that it's mostly just Bethyl fluff, along with some more seed-plantation for future chapters.
> 
> Oh, and before you leave! I've been playing around with the idea of a new Bethyl fic which plays out in ASZ three years after Team Family got there, with some alterations to the events that occur in the TV-show and Negan as a villain... Basically, it's my theory on how Beth could have survived Coda and then how she found Negan's group and joined the Saviors. I read the comics as well, so I'll be mixing them up with the show a little, but not too much. It's just how I think Beth's story could play out if she ends up being with that group, much as this one was about how she could have ended up with Morgan after Grady. So, what do you think about that idea? I'm plotting and planning, but I might be able to post the first chapter before the new year! Tell me if you'd be interested in reading it! ;)
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and supporting me, even though I've gotten REALLY bad at replying to reviews due to lack of time (I feel horrible!). I'm gonna get better at it again now that school's almost out and hopefully, if you feel like it, you can drop a tiny comment on this chapter, to tell me what you thought? Thank you so much and much love! :) xx


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't expect this chapter to be this long (around 6,1k words), but apparently, the fluff monster inside of me wanted to get things out. I've had this chapter since Christmas, but I knew that I wanted to post it on New Years, so here I am! Thank you so much for the lovely reviews from last time around and to everyone who keeps reading and supporting this fic! I wouldn't be anywhere without you guys! So Merry (Belated) Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hope to hear from y'all in 2016! xx

# A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)

## Chapter 5

  


“She ain't doin' so good, Rick. I don't know what to do...”

“ _She hasn't woken up yet?_ ”

“Not since I put her in bed… Fuck, what should I do?”

“J _ust take care of her the best you can. If she's not better in a few days, start headin' back. I'm gonna try an' make sure that Maggie and Morgan don't worry too much… Would be good if they got to talk to her once she does wake up_.”

“Yeah, I'll– I'll get back to ya, Rick. She's awake.”

Beth groaned, resting her hand on her forehead, wiping away some of the sweat that had gathered there. Slowly, she blinked her eyes open and it took her a moment to adjust her sight to the dim light in the cabin. She felt the bed dip down on her side and she turned, her eyes immediately meeting Daryl's.

“Hey,” he finally breathed out, reaching over to brush away her damp hair away from her face.

“Hi,” Beth rasped out, wincing at the scrape inside her throat and the stinging pain in her head. She looked at Daryl again, seeing the worried expression on his face.

“I talked to Rick,” he told her, “just now.” He brushed her cheek with his fingers again and Beth turned her head into his palm. “Ya need to rest up. If ya ain't better in a coupl'a days, we'll be headin' back.”

“Daryl, no,” Beth let out a groan when she tried to sit up. “We can't go back. Not now.”

“Don't see what other choice we have,” Daryl told her. “If ya ain't better, then I'm gonna be making the decision to go back.”

“And I have no say in it?” Beth gaped at him, her eyes narrowing. He was doing it again. Making all the choices because he thought she wasn't capable to take care of herself.

“Don't,” he said, making her look at him. “I know what you're thinkin' an' this isn't it.”

“What do you mean?” she asked him to clarify.

“This ain't me making the decision because I think I'm superior. This is me making the decision to take care of my girl before anything else. I ain't gonna risk your life by staying on the road if you're sick,” he told her, instantly easing her mind a little.

“Sorry,” Beth said. “I didn't mean to doubt you like that.”

“'S okay. With the way I've been actin', I don't blame ya.”

Beth reached out and took his hand, intertwining their fingers. She lifted his hand to her mouth and kissed the small circular scar on the back of his hand.

“No, it's not okay,” Beth said, offering him a small smile before sighing. “So, what now? I'm sick, right? How long was I out?”

“You've been in and out of it for a coupl'a hours,” he shared. “Ya have a fever, though I've been tryin' to get it down but it ain't givin', from what I can tell.”

“Hm...” Beth hummed, sensing that there was something else bothering him as well. They remained quiet for another moment and Beth wondered when he was going to say something. Whatever it was that was bothering him, might not only have to do with the fact that she had somehow caught a bug. It was clear that whatever it was, he was trying to find the words to say it without causing another argument or something.

“Why'd ya clean the cabin?”

Well. She had not been expecting that question. Beth frowned at him, turning her head so that she could look at him more fully. There was something else there underneath his eyes, hiding behind a completely neutral face. It was a question that he was clearly expecting to have two answers. Beth didn't know which one it was that he was expecting of her at the moment, but she knew that she would have to give him the truth soon enough.

Now though, she was tired and she was feeling like she might throw up at any moment, so she picked the easiest one.

“I was bored,” she told him and she knew that he could see right through her.

“Mhm…” He stood up from the pullout couch, leaning down to brush his lips across her forehead softly. “Whenever you're ready to talk 'bout it, whatever it is, I'm here for ya. 'Til then, I'm gonna make ya somethin' to eat and you get some more rest.”

Beth smiled to herself again, closing her eyes.

Best man she could have ever wished for.

-§-

Daryl couldn't help but glance at Beth as he heated up the leftovers from the previous night. He kept going over everything in his head, over and over again, wondering how he could have missed that something was off with her. She had been fine in the morning and when he had come back only hours later, she had collapsed right in front of him. He had just barely caught her and after that, he had gotten her inside and tried to get her sudden fever under control.

Daryl wasn't stupid. He had been able to see the signs because she'd gone through it all a couple of times at the farm. Whenever she had one of those days where her brain was acting up, making her remember, she would get a slight fever and get sick. He had taken care of her during those days, but Morgan had also been there and to be honest, things had never been _this_ bad.

During the time that Beth had been unconscious Daryl had been going out of his mind thinking about what he was supposed to do. All of the sudden he had forgotten everything that they used to do when Beth got sick due to her memories. He'd gotten her into bed and spent the next few minutes just freaking out in his mind, touching her forehead and trying to wake her up. When he had felt her fever, he had immediately run to the bathroom and gotten a rag to wet with cold water to put on her forehead. Slowly, he'd begun coming to his senses and remembered some of the things they'd done on the farm and he knew that he needed to calm himself down before he would be able to help Beth at all.

The things was that he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to take care of her this time. They had some medicine that they had taken with them from the farm, though there was no way for him to know whether it would be enough. It had been cold when they had started their trip and the climate was beginning to get a little milder again. Maybe Beth had caught a bug or something too, which would only make things worse for them.

What was he supposed to do if something really bad happened to her?

Daryl forced himself to push away the question, not even wanting to get into it or think about the darkness that would inevitably follow.

Instead, he focused on the fact that Beth was once again holding back on him. Fortunately, he now knew that it was better to just let her know that he knew and then let her come to him. There was no doubt in his mind that Beth would come around and talk about the things that she had been remembering, but until then, he would just have to be patient. A part of him still wondered why it was so difficult for her to just talk to him. They were supposed to be in it together, no matter what, and that meant that she needed to share whatever it was that was on her mind with him. He was supposed to be there for her to help her through the fog, to help her remember if she wanted to, when she was ready to.

When the stew was warm enough, he poured some of it into a bowl and grabbed a spoon, walking over to the pullout couch where Beth was resting. He could tell that she wasn't asleep, but she had her eyes closed, doing her best to relax even though her head was most likely pounding.

“Beth, I'm gonna need ya to sit up so ya can eat somethin',” he spoke softly, once again sitting on down on the pullout. It creaked under his weight and Beth opened her eyes to look at him again, her eyes a little glassy. He could tell that she was in pain, but he needed her to eat first before he could give her any medication. “How are ya feelin'?”

“Like crap,” Beth replied, groaning when she pulled herself into a sitting position. He resisted the urge to smirk because in all honesty, she looked like crap too. His girl was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on, yet, it was very clear that she was sick. Her skin was sickly pale and her eyes seemed almost glazed over. The tip of her nose was red and she kept breathing through her mouth, as if she was having a difficult time getting all the air she needed through her nose. From all the symptoms, Daryl would assume that she had gotten a bad cold, but mixed with the fact that she was still suffering from memory loss after having gotten shot through the head, he knew that there could be anything going on. After all, her brain was the main issue here, because it made her more sensitive to some things after her near death experience.

“Are you gonna feed me like a baby?” Beth smiled at him weakly before giggling. Her giggles turned into a coughing fit and Daryl instantly held out the red rag that he always carried around in his back pocket. Luckily, he had cleaned it, so there wasn't any walker blood on it or anything else that could worsen her state.

“If it's what it takes to get ya to eat all of this,” he said, holding the bowl up.

Beth grimaced as she wiped her mouth with the rag, “Okay, I guess. But we're never gonna speak about this to anyone. Don't want them thinking that I've gotten weak.”

“They're more likely to think that I'm pussy-whipped,” Daryl smirked.

“Well, that could also be the case,” Beth teased him, opening her mouth so that he could give her a spoonful of the stew. She chewed the meat slowly and Daryl only shook his head at her, even though his grin never fell.

“'S a fine ass pussy–”

“Don't you _dare_ finish that sentence,” Beth interrupted him, laughing as a small blush crept over her cheeks. This wasn't the first time they spoke like this to one another, but usually, those words only came to them when they were in bed together. He'd realized that Beth enjoyed having him whisper some dirty shit in her ear when they were fucking and he enjoyed giving her what she wanted. Sometimes, she would even return the favor and he loved those times even more, when she would just take charge and completely flip the tables on him.

He knew that him not finishing that sentence didn't have anything to do with it's crudeness, but rather the fact that it would have an effect on Beth and considering just how ill she was, there would be nothing they would be able to do about it. He wouldn't risk making her more sick and she wouldn't want to risk giving him whatever bug she had caught.

“Let's talk 'bout somethin' else then,” he suggested, giving her another spoon of stew. Beth hummed in agreement, but didn't speak for a moment as she ate.

“I had another memory come back,” she said after a few seconds. Her voice had quieted down and a serious look had come over her face again. “After you left, I started getting some flashes… I didn't think it would get so bad, so I tried to distract myself by cleaning. I must have just exhausted myself.”

Finally, the truth was coming out and Daryl hadn't even been forced to push her for it. He had known that he just needed to give her some time to get her own thoughts in order and he had been right about it.

“I remembered a barn,” she said. “A bunch of walkers and a lot of shooting and yelling. Then I recall myself running to one of the walkers that had been shot down, crying and leaning over it… It grabbed me and I panicked but someone got it away from me and killed it before it could get to me.”

Daryl's stomach dropped a little when she looked at him expectantly. What was he supposed to say about that? He gave her some more stew before he began explaining it to her. “Ya know that ya lived on a farm before,” he said. “Your dad… When we got to the farm, he didn't know, I guess… He thought the walkers were just sick people, or somethin'. He locked 'em up in the barn and he gave 'em food so that they wouldn't decompose.”

“Oh my God… Did they get out? Is that why everyone was shooting?” Beth asked, eyes wide. He could tell that it was difficult for her to understand how naive her father had been in the beginning because all she knew of the walkers was that they needed to be killed. Ever since she had woken up with no memories, she had been taught and trained by Morgan to kill the fuckers in order to survive.

“Nah,” Daryl shook his head. “There was this other guy in our group, Shane. He lost it, I guess, an' decided to take matters into his own hands. He opened up the barn an' we all worked together to kill 'em. Hershel was devastated… So were you.”

Beth swallowed, glancing down at her own lap before looking up at him again. “I thought they were sick too?”

“Ya didn't know any better,” he told her. “Y'were younger an' ya didn't know. Y' believed what your daddy was sayin' an' he didn't know either. Can't blame him for it.”

“So who was the woman then?” Beth wondered.

“Your ma',” Daryl replied quietly, letting his answer sink in. He watched her face as she lost focus again for a moment, clearly trying to remember something else.

“She was my mother…” Beth whispered to herself. “Annette.”

“Ya remember her name,” Daryl realized as he observed her.

“Just now,” Beth admitted, still looking a little dazed. “I remember her teaching me to play to piano… Teaching me how to sing.” She winced then and reached up to hold her head.

“Think you've had enough stew for now,” Daryl said, placing the bowl with the spoon inside of it on the small table that he had brought closer to the pullout. “Anythin' else ya remember 'bout your ma' that ya wanna tell me 'bout?” he wondered, getting himself settled next to her. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Beth's head instantly fell to rest on his chest as she brought her hand up to splay over his stomach. He took a hold of it, wanting to give her as much comfort as he could without actually saying anything and he was happy to feel Beth squeeze his hand back.

“I don't know why it's all coming back like this, all of the sudden,” Beth said. “I remember small things about my mom, but not everything. It's like I know that the gaps are still there and my brain just can't find the puzzle pieces to complete the image. I see my mom in the kitchen and hear Maggie's voice in the room, but I can't see her. It's confusing and it's when I try to force myself to see what ain't there that…” she trailed off.

“That's when ya get the headaches,” Daryl filled in. It made sense, but he still wished that he could help her so that she wouldn't get them anymore. It wasn't a solution to live like this, just waiting for the next hit from her brain; the next assault of memories that it sent out to her.

He held her tightly against him, feeling when she began dozing off again. It had already gotten late and it had been a long day for the both of them. He was tired from his long walk and even more exhausted from worrying about Beth and what he would do if she got even more ill. It didn't take much time for Beth to start snoring softly by his side, with her arms wrapped around his middle and it took even less time for Daryl to follow her into sleep.

His last thought though, was that he would have to radio in a little later tomorrow in case Beth was feeling better. He had a feeling that she would need to talk to her sister and he knew for a fact that Maggie had missed Beth too. Perhaps, she would be able to fill in some of the gaps that he wasn't able to, as well as ease her own worry.

-§-

“ _Baker to Little Bird, Baker to Little Bird. Come in Little Bird_ \--”

“Maggie, are you kiddin' me?” Beth sighed as she talked into the radio-phone. Though, she couldn't help the small smile that crossed her lips when she finally got to hear her sister's voice after so long. “What have I told you about that nickname?”

“ _Yeah, yeah. I know. Only your hubby gets to call you that_ ,” Maggie replied dismissively. Beth could imagine her waving her hand around to emphasize her point.

“Daryl isn't my ' _hubby_ ',” Beth countered. “We aren't married.”

“ _Might as well be_ ,” Maggie said.

“Hm…” Beth hummed, glancing toward the small fireplace that Daryl had been preparing to light. He had gone out for a bit to get some firewood after making sure that Beth was doing well enough to be left alone because he had known that Beth would need some time with Maggie after the memories she had been getting back recently. “Why do you call yourself 'Baker', by the way?” Beth figured it was better to just change the subject before Maggie got into the whole 'why-don't-we-have-a-spring-wedding-when-you-guys-get-back?' thing.

“ _Isn't it obvious?_ ” Maggie snorted. “ _Because I've got a bun in the over_.”

Beth couldn't help but laugh along, loving how incredibly normal the whole conversation sounded. If one ignored the fact that the world had gone to hell, one could almost imagine that this was what it would have been like between her and her sister in the future, where Beth might have been off to college while Maggie was home and pregnant. The idea or some kind of normalcy still being there between them made Beth feel good.

“ _Now, since you tried to change the subject, I'm gonna change it again_ ,” Maggie said then. She was clearly very observant. “ _Have you and Daryl run out of condoms yet?_ ”

“Maggie!” Beth's eyes widened as she looked around the small room, almost expecting Daryl to pop out out of nowhere and hear what it was that her sister had said. It would have made him very uncomfortable, that much she was sure of. “We haven't even done _that_ since we left!”

“ _Beth, that's over two weeks ago!_ ” Maggie gasped. “ _That can't be healthy._ ”

Beth covered her eyes with her palm as she tried to suppress her giggles, “I can't believe you're encouraging your younger sister to have sex…”

“ _Well, since I ain't getting' none, at least one of us should_ ,” Maggie said, sounding annoyed.

“Okay, first of all, too much information, Mags,” Beth told her. “Secondly, why? Glenn doesn't want to?”

“ _Oh, he wants to. Believe me when I tell you that me looking like a hippo certainly hasn't been turning him off_ ,” Maggie replied.

“Then what's the problem?” Beth frowned.

“ _He's worried that we might hurt the baby somehow or cause early labor. I'm telling him that it's too soon anyway and that the baby will be fine, but he'd rather sleep all wound up than actually sleep with me_ ,” Maggie sighed. “ _Can't exactly fault him for trying to protect us though, right?_ ”

“Yeah, I guess you can't,” Beth agreed. To be honest, she thought it was very sweet of Glenn that he didn't want to endanger Maggie and the baby. Being pregnant in this world was dangerous as it was and they wouldn't want to risk something going wrong. Beth understood Glenn's fear and even though she was sure that she had read in one of those baby books that she and Daryl had found along the way that it wasn't dangerous to be having sex, it made more sense for them not to risk anything.

“ _So, now before we talk about why Rick has been trying to hide the fact that you're sick from me all day long, I just have to ask why you and Daryl aren't using this time apart from everyone to just go at it every chance you get?_ ”

“It's not that simple,” Beth told her. “It's not like we haven't wanted to, but the problem is that we haven't had the time or found a good place until now.”

“ _And now that you have a place, you're sick_ ,” Maggie stated.

“I didn't want to worry you or Morgan or anyone else,” Beth said. “Neither did Daryl, so I guess he must have told Rick to try and keep quiet about it.”

“ _But what's wrong with you? You sound pretty good now, but I don't know how you were earlier_ ,” Maggie said.

“I wasn't good,” Beth confessed. “I kind of passed out, but I'm better now. I really am so you shouldn't worry. We'll probably just stay here for one more day and then we'll head out on the road again.”

“ _You fainted?_ ” Maggie gasped. “ _Beth, how am I supposed to_ not _worry about you?_ ”

“Because I'm doing better, Maggie,” Beth repeated. “I must have caught a cold or something and that made me feel worse when my memories started coming back.”

“ _It's happening again? Like it used to here on the farm?_ ”

“Yeah,” Beth drawled. “I… I remembered Mom.”

Silence fell between them and Maggie didn't say anything for a moment. Beth had almost thought that she might have lost the signal, when Maggie spoke again. “ _You_ _remembered_ _Annette?_ ”

“Just small things.” Beth didn't want to worry Maggie or make her upset by telling her that she had remembered her re-animated mother trying to eat her. “Her brushing my hair, singin' and talkin' to me. It felt good to remember, but it made me a little sad too. I don't know why so many memories are coming in like this all of the sudden, but I guess it was bound to happen some time.”

“ _I guess so,_ ” Maggie agreed. “ _I'm happy that you remembered some good things and I'm glad that your feelin' better._ ”

Beth turned toward her head in the direction of the door when she heard it open and met Daryl's eyes. He looked at her and offered her a short nod, as if asking whether she was okay. She nodded back at him before turning her attention back to the radio-phone.

“Daryl's back now and we're gonna eat somethin' before headin' to bed,” she said. “I'm really happy I got to hear your voice. I miss you.”

“ _I miss you too, Bethy. And so does everybody else,_ ” Maggie said, sounding like she was ready to cry at any moment. “ _Sorry, it's just the hormones, I think_ ,” she sniffed and Beth almost immediately felt tears stinging in her own eyes. She really missed them; all of them.

“We're gonna be back before you know it,” Beth said, letting out a small laugh. “Tell everyone that Daryl and I said that we miss them and hug Morgan for me, will you? Oh, and give Judith a kiss on the cheek.”

Maggie laughed, “ _Anythin' else, Ms. Beth?_ ”

Beth smiled, “I love you.”

“ _I love you too, Beth_.”

-§-

Beth watched as Daryl moved around the cabin, picking up things as he went, putting away the rag he had been using to get her fever down as well as some other things. She observed him quietly, knowing deep inside that he was still worried about her, even though she was doing better. Her fever had gone down and she was no longer suffering from her headaches. The talk she had had with Maggie had eased her mind little because even though she had told herself that she wasn't worrying, she knew that she was. She missed Maggie, Morgan and everyone else in their family. Despite the fact that she and Daryl had only been on the road for two weeks, she felt as if so much time had passed. They were getting closer to North Carolina now and Beth wondered just how much longer they would keep going. Daryl had already spoken his mind about going back if she wasn't feeling any better, but now that she was, there was no reason for them to head back earlier.

After about half an hour, Beth was getting tired of her own thoughts and speculations. Daryl was pulling off his boots, getting ready for bed, so she knew that they would probably talk about it anyway. For the first time in what felt like days, she was finally able to relax, not feeling like she would throw up at any moment, or fall over due to her dizziness.

“Y' Okay?” Daryl asked when he finally settled in the bed next to her. Beth scooted herself a little closer to him and laid her head on his chest as he wrapped his arms around her body, just holding her.

“Yeah, I'm better,” she replied quietly.

“Been thinkin' 'bout what I said earlier today,” he told her. “'Bout leavin' and goin' back to the farm.”

“I was just thinkin' about the same thing,” Beth said, twisting around so that she could look at him more properly. “I'm better. You said that if I didn't get any better, we'd go back. But I'm good now.”

“You're _better_ ,” he emphasized. “Ya ain't gonna be _good_ until your brain stops doin' what it's doin'.”

“It's not like I can just tell it to stop, Daryl,” she sighed.

“I know.” He brushed the scar on her cheek with his thumb, looking into her eyes. “Wish I hadn't forced ya to keep goin' like that. Wish I hadn't pushed ya so far.”

“Daryl,” Beth said, lifting her hand to his cheek. “It isn't your fault.”

“'S my job to take care of ya,” he protested.

“It's _our_ job to take care of each other,” Beth corrected him. “I could have told you that I wasn't feelin' good. I could have been more clear about it instead of stayin' quiet. You didn't know how bad it was because I didn't say anythin'.”

“We need to talk more then,” he told her. “I know we ain't had any problems with communicatin', but we gotta to more of it. Can't keep me in the dark 'bout how ya feel an' I can't keep assumin' things before I ask ya 'bout them.”

“Okay,” Beth agreed, resting her head back on his chest. “Aren't you afraid that I'll pass this bug off to you?” she asked then, curious to hear what he had to say. A part of her had been wondering it all day long because they both knew that this wasn't just her brain, but probably some kind of twenty-four-hour flu as well.

“I ain't afraid of nothin', lil' Bird,” he smirked, kissing the top of her head. “'Cept losin' you.”

“You're not gonna lose me ever again,” she said confidently, turning her head just slightly so that she could brush her lips against his chest, right on the place that she knew his lowercase 'b' tattoo was.

They laid in silence for another moment, Daryl playing with her fingers as they enjoyed the quiet. Beth couldn't help but wonder when they would be heading back out on the road, though, she knew that there wasn't a reason for them to stay longer than a day or two. She had been resting all day long and Daryl hadn't allowed her to step out of bed for another reason than to use the bathroom. Even then, he walked her there and back and stayed close enough in case she would need his help. He had been so sweet to her, taking care of her and bringing her anything she needed. Beth loved him more than anything because of that and she knew that no matter how many times she said it to him, she would never really be able to convey how much she really meant it. Words and actions would never be enough to show him how she felt about him. He had become a part of her that she didn't think she would function without. The knowledge that he was with her and that he was alive and safe was what kept her going.

She remembered that time after the group of men had attacked them at the farm. She remembered her fear when she had seen him being beaten down and she had been tied up, unable to do anything. The satisfaction that she had gotten later from killing the men responsible was something she would never forget either, nor would she forget the moments that had followed when she had patched him up after he had taken care of her wounds first. Back then, she hadn't understood why he kept pushing her away, but after months of being together and developing feelings that she knew he must have had even back then, Beth understood it better. She didn't share everything with Daryl regarding her memories because she didn't want to worry him too much. They had been coming back more and more and a part of her was scared for what might be the reason behind her brain finally letting things go like it was. Maybe it was because enough time had passed so that her mind had finally gotten a hold of things?

“I remembered something else,” Beth quietly whispered.

Daryl tensed slightly under her, but soon enough, he began rubbing her back slightly. “Yeah? Wanna talk 'bout it?”

“I remembered you,” she told him. “Seeing you driving your motorcycle up to the farmhouse. The first time I saw you.”

“Was it from this time around, when we all found you an' Morgan, or the first time?” he asked.

“First.”

“Hm… I remember that day too,” he said. “Carl had been shot accidentally an' Rick ended up takin' him back to your dad's place. Maggie rode a horse out to get Lori – Carl's mom – an' I hated that Lori just got on that damn horse with a complete stranger.”

“What happened next?” Beth wondered. She always loved it when he told her something from their past as if he was telling her a story.

“Lori left with Maggie and the rest of our group circled back an' went to your farm,” he said. “You were workin' outside when I pulled up with my bike. It was the first time I saw ya.”

“And what did you think about me, back then?” Beth asked. “When your first saw me.”

“Didn't think much, to be honest,” he shared. “Ya have to understand that I was a different person back then. I was so angry 'bout everythin' an' I was lookin' for Carol's lil' girl in the woods. Didn't have any time to stop.”

“That makes sense,” Beth nodded against his chest.

“Hey,” he lifted her head with two fingers under her chin. “You're not mad, are ya?”

Beth smiled, lifting herself up enough to press a kiss against his cheek. “Why would I be, Daryl? You said it yourself, there was so much goin' on back then that there wasn't any time to take a breather.”

“Okay,” he said, his own lips twitching into a half-smile.

“It makes me kinda curious though,” Beth grinned. “When _did_ you first notice me?”

“Really wanna know?” Daryl asked, quirking his eyebrow at her.

“Well, you already told me about the funeral home so unless you have somethin' to add…?” Beth trailed off, letting the question hang between them.

“The funeral home was me realizin' that I couldn't be without ya,” Daryl said. “First time I actually felt somethin' for ya other than obligation to protect ya because y'were a part of my group, was before that… Longer than I'd actually be okay with admittin'.”

“You can tell me about it, but only if you want,” Beth said, her curiosity piqued.

“It was back at the prison,” he said. “You were younger… Made myself feel kinda sick when I first realized that I was thinkin' 'bout ya. You're still young.”

“I thought we agreed that age doesn't matter any more?” Beth frowned at him. “You know that it doesn't.”

“Know that now, yeah. Back then, it was a different story, 'cause I still hadn't spent real time with ya to know what ya were like. I still didn't know ya the way that I got to know ya later,” Daryl explained it. “Back then, I thought of ya as nothin' other than another family member to protect, so the fact that I even started thinkin' about ya differently, _that_ was what made me feel like shit.”

“So when was it? What happened?” Beth wondered.

“It was after my brother died,” Daryl shared. “I was angry an' grievin'. Couldn't sleep an' then I heard ya singin' to Lil' Asskicker.”

“This was back at the prison?” Beth filled in.

Daryl nodded, “Yeah. I heard ya singin' an' I looked down at ya where ya were carryin' the lil' girl around. Ya looked so mature then, like a real mother an' even since I'd heard ya singin' the first time, I kept bein' drawn to ya whenever ya did it again.”

Beth watched his face as he lost himself to the memory for a moment. She knew that if she closed her eyes, she would be able to remember some of the times when she had been woken up due to Judith crying when they had been living in the prison. That was a part of her old life that she had been getting' back more and more from, but still, some details weren't there, almost as if they had been erased completely, but she knew that they were missing. It was just like the memory that had returned to her the day before, with her mother and Maggie talking in the kitchen. She knew that Maggie was there, even though she hadn't been able to see her in the room. It was clear that a part of that particular memory was gone or simply hadn't returned completely yet and it was the same thing with the prison.

“So you thought I looked like a mom and you got the hots for me there,” Beth stated jokingly. She laughed when Daryl shook his head at her.

“Nah,” he drawled. “I just remember thinking that ya looked beautiful. Think the moon was shinin' in through the bars an' everythin'.”

“Must have been destiny,” she teased him again, giggling when he tickled her side a little. Daryl chuckled lowly before they settled again and Beth splayed her hand on his chest, over his heart again. “You thought I was beautiful,” she repeated his words and she loved it when she saw his cheeks darken slightly.

“Still do,” he reminded her. “It was just that back then, when I first thought it, it came outta nowhere. I was angry about losing Merle an' when I heard ya singin' like an angel or somethin', I looked down and saw ya there. Ya didn't even know I was awake an listenin'. Felt like a creep, but I couldn't bring myself to ignore ya when ya sang.”

Beth nodded against him and closed her eyes, breathing in his scent. “Thank you for telling me,” she said. “And just so you know, you weren't a creep back then and you aren't one now either. I love you.”

His grip on her tightened a little and he buried his nose in her hair once again before pressing hos lips to the top of her head, giving her a soft kiss there. “I love ya, lil' Bird. More than ya know,” he whispered back, just before Beth felt exhaustion and sleep, finally taking over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading! It has been a wonderful year despite everything and I can only hope that 2016 brings us all more joy! To make things a little interesting, I'm gonna say that chapter 6 (the next one) is one of my absolute favorites in this story! I have approximately two more scenes to write in that one, which means that it might be out sooner than you think! ;)
> 
> I am a little curious though: Which chapter so far has been YOUR favorite? Of this story and then of course of Blink? And to those of you who shared their interest in the new story I'm working on: I'm hoping to get a few more chapters finished before I start posting! Good news: Beth is badass as always BUT she'll be a little more difficult when it comes to coming around to Team Family than she was in this universe. Also, no memory loss!
> 
> Once again, thank you so much for a wonderful year and I hope you have a great time celebrating New Years and also that the next year will be filled with amazing moments for you all! :) Much love! xx


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Beth are on the road again, when they come across a restaurant which leads to a turn of events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another update! And this time around it didn't take ages for me to post! :P Thank you to all of those who reviewed the last chapter. I really appreciate it!
> 
> Also: I might post the first chapter of "Endurance", which is the new fic that I've been working on. A story where Beth survived and has been with Negan's group... Either way, if you want to read it, keep an eye out on my tumblr because I'll be posting links there, as I do for this story! :)
> 
> Also, before you start reading this chapter, here's a WARNING: This chapter is not for kids. Consider yourselves warned.
> 
> Enjoy!

# A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)

## Chapter 6

 

Beth looked out over the country side, resting her forehead against the window. The breath from her nose was fogging it up slightly and she couldn't help but feel like she'd gone back in time, to when she was a kid and her daddy was driving her to school.

Yes, she had remembered that trivial little thing. In fact, she could feel more and more small memories that some would see as insignificant coming back to her, always relating to the things that were happening around her. Sometimes, it didn't take more than for see a sign and small bursts of memories would come crashing in. It was always something small; bits and pieces of information that most would deem unimportant. Yet, to Beth, they meant everything.

With the small memories that returned though, her headache lingered. Fortunately, it wasn't as bad as it had been back at the cabin, when she'd been suffering from a fever as well. Mostly, it came and went, being there almost as a reminder that her brain was working on sorting things out. Despite the headache, Beth felt a lot better physically, which was the reason that they had left the cabin two days ago, after they had both gotten another twenty-four hours of rest. Beth insisted that Daryl didn't need to worry about her falling over again any time soon, although she knew that he was still hesitant, even though he didn't admit it verbally.

It was with the small things that he showed how much he cared. How she felt his eyes on her whenever she was looking over the maps or how his hand lingered on her knee when she was half-asleep in the seat next to him. He showed it by not leaving her side when they stepped out of the car to stretch their legs and with how he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in for a hug whenever he had the chance to do so. It was sweet, but Beth didn't want him to hover too much.

They were both aware of the fact that Daryl was afraid of losing her, like he had thought he had done over a year ago in that hospital that her memories were still vague of. The things that she _had_ remembered from that time, she wished that she didn't and from what she had gathered, she didn't ever want to remember that part of her past. She had been through enough as it was since that time which had made her grow into the person that she was today. When she had first woken up, she had been forced to learn to adapt to this new world since she hadn't even had any memory of what walkers were, and that alone had been hard enough. Beth did understand where Daryl was coming from though. She didn't even know what she would do with herself if she lost him, especially now that they were out there on their own.

Before they had set out again, they had radioed in to talk with Rick and the others. There had been a lot more static in the radio-phone and they had all known that they had been optimistic when they had hoped that it would work for the entire trip. She and Daryl were going to be too far out sooner than they'd expected, which meant that they wouldn't be able to pick up on the radio signals. They hadn't been able to talk to the rest of their group for the past two days and it was just now settling on them both that they really were all alone until they decided to head back to the farm.

They had crossed into North Carolina a day ago and they hadn't been stopping much since then. The few times they did stop the truck was whenever they needed to relieve themselves and even then, they didn't stray too far away from the car. The weather was a lot milder and it made Beth wonder if the harshest part of the Winter was finally over. She didn't feel like she was going to freeze to death like the first few times they had been outside after starting on this trip and even though she was happy for that, something else bothered her.

She thought about the walkers that had previously been slowed down by the cold. Now that it was getting a little warmer, they were bound to pick up speed as well. Not only to mention the fact that the cold had probably preserved them better and halted their decay, despite the lack of humans for them to feed on. She had talked to Daryl about it and they both had decided to officially stay away from and avoid any big spots that Eugene had marked out for them. Sure, they had been doing so even before she had gotten sick, but now it was a decision set in stone. They couldn't risk going into places that were too large for the two of them to cover alone. Even if they had each others backs, it wouldn't do them any good if a couple of dozen walkers stumbled upon them and it was better to be safe than sorry.

“We should be there in a few minutes,” Daryl told her. It was still early – probably around noon – and they had already looted a gas station, but there hadn't been anything useful there. When they had gotten out of there, Beth had seen an advertisement for some new restaurant and bar that had opened up, along with a bed and breakfast a couple of miles away. She had pointed it out to Daryl and suggested they go there, see what useful things they could find there since the place had been newly opened before the Outbreak. If they were lucky, they would find canned food and other supplies, hopefully hygienic ones too. Beth was dying for more soap and she knew that the group back home probably wouldn't mind if they managed to find some to bring back considering that they were starting to run low. Either way, Daryl had agreed that it would be a good place to stop and so they had set out, hoping that the roads wouldn't be blocked and hold them up for too long.

“You think we're gonna find anythin' there?” Beth asked, turning her head away from the window so that she could look over at Daryl.

“Reckon so,” Daryl nodded. “If it really was new, I doubt that a lot of people would have gone there when the Outbreak started. This rode isn't exactly the biggest one so many probably missed it.”

“We're gonna need a plan for when we get there,” Beth stated.

“We go in together, simple as that,” Daryl said. “We check the restaurant first an' kill any walkers that might be there an' then we try an' get as much food we can find into the truck.”

“After that we hit the bed and breakfast, right?” Beth wondered. Once again Daryl nodded. “We're gonna have to be careful. We can't assume that people didn't know about the place. Besides, the staff that worked there could still be around.”

“Alive or undead?” Daryl asked her and Beth almost rolled her eyes at him.

“Well, if they were well supplied and knew what they were doing when things went to hell, I don't see a reason for them not to be alive,” Beth told him.

“You're always so damn optimistic, Beth,” Daryl said, lips twitching. “'S part of why I love ya so much, even though it annoys the fuck outta me sometimes.”

Beth felt a smile tugging on her own lips. “You can be really sweet sometimes, you know?”

“Yeah, yeah,” he waved dismissively. “Don't tell anyone about it though,” he joked.

He rested his hand on her knee again and she placed hers over his before leaning over and pressing her lips to his cheeks. “Too late,” she teased. “I think everyone already knows.”

-§-

Daryl looked at the building as he parked the car. It wasn't that big, but it sure as hell was bigger than he would have expected. Compared to the buildings that they usually saw, this one looked new, which confirmed the fact that it had been newly renovated before the Outbreak. It couldn't be bigger than what an average sized _McDonald's_ , but there was a second building connected to it, which Daryl assumed was the bed and breakfast. Hopefully, that part of the building would be closed off because if there were walkers in there, they were bound to be located in that place.

“Gear up,” Daryl told Beth, who immediately pulled out her gloves. Yes, the weather was milder, but it was still a little cold. She wasn't wearing her thick gloves though, but rather the thin ones with the cut off fingertips, which allowed her to get a better grip on her knives. Daryl checked his gun and spare ammo as he looked over at Beth who was strapping her knives to her thigh-holster.

Damn, he was never going to get used to how hot she looked when she did that.

Daryl forced himself to stop that trail of thoughts before it led him down a road that he knew he wouldn't be able to come back from. Beth sill wasn't completely recovered and he knew that he shouldn't be asking her for sex, even though every single cell in his body was screaming for physical release. He knew that if he began looking at Beth like that right now, he most likely would not be able to stop his body from reacting to his thoughts.

Clearing his throat, he stepped out of the car, checking his spare gun as he did. Beth got out of the car a minute after him, her larger hunting knife already in her hand. Daryl walked around the truck and stepped up to her before leaning down to press his lips to her forehead lightly.

“We'll knock first, 'kay?” he asked and Beth nodded.

“I know how we do this,” Beth smiled at him. “Then you go one way and I go the other and we try to get as many things as possible.”

“Ya think we can leave the keys in the truck?” he wondered and Beth shrugged.

“I don't know,” she admitted. “Might be better if one of us has them.”

Daryl nodded, opening her door so that he could reach across the seats and pull out the keys. When he got back out, he noticed Beth's head was tilted to the side and she was quietly observing him. He suppressed the urge to smirk.

“Ya know, ya kinda make me feel like an object when you're checking out my ass like that,” Daryl told her.

Beth laughed at that, “Oh please. I'm just returning the favor.”

“Hm… Not sure what you're talkin' 'bout, Greene,” Daryl said.

“You know _very_ well, Dixon,” Beth grinned, stepping up to him again. “We both know that you can't keep your eyes off of _my_ ass whenever I'm walking away from you.” With those words, she pecked him lightly on the lips and turned around, not giving him a chance to reciprocate the kiss before she began walking toward the restaurant.

Daryl shook his head and smirked at the way that she was obviously swaying her hips a little more than usual and then followed her, silently telling himself that they needed to be serious now and that there would be time for playfulness later.

-§-

Beth made her way through the restaurant, checking every corner as silently as she could before she walked around them. From what she and Daryl had been able to tell, the restaurant was empty. They had waited outside long enough for it to be considered safe to head inside and after doing so, they had split up in order to cover as much ground as possible.

She didn't really know what it was about the place but it gave Beth chills. Perhaps it was the fact that besides a thick layer of dust, the restaurant seemed to be untouched. As she made her way into the actual diner part of the building, she took in the old paintings that she figured must have been at least somewhat valuable before the Outbreak. It all reminded her of one of those places where a wealthy family opened up a restaurant that actually looked more like an antique store than a place where people actually came to eat.

Beth began opening drawers as quietly as possible, looking for anything that might be useful for her and Daryl on the road as well as for their family when they returned to the farm. She found a pack of unopened batteries and quickly stuffed them into her backpack, as well as a flashlight that was miraculously still working. There was a drawer filled with utensils, but Beth ignored it because she knew that Daryl would probably find sharper things in the kitchen. Instead, Beth walked around the bar, watching her step to make sure that there was nothing lurking underneath it. Once she made sure that the coast was clear, she looked to the shelves that were stacked with bottles. Some of them had been opened while others had not and Beth wondered to herself if they could really have gotten as lucky as this to have found a place which had been untouched by the outside.

She didn't really know why she did it, but she began skimming over the labels on the bottles, almost as if she was looking for something. It had been a natural thing to do for her and she acted as if on auto-pilot as she read what the various beverages consisted of. She paused at one particular bottle though, ' _Archer's_ _Peach Schnapps_ ', the label said and a frown quickly fell over her face as something inside of her seemed to start ticking. There was something awfully familiar about it and Beth reached out without thinking as she wrapped her hand around the bottle and took it off the shelf.

As soon as the bottle was in her hands a loud crack resonated and Beth took some quick steps back, pressing her back against the wood of the bar, watching in horror as a couple of dozen bottles tumbled town from the shelf which had become unhinged. The glass bottles broke, shattering all over the floor and the liquid pooled out, the smell of alcohol filling her nose instantly. She heard quick footsteps and turned around as a door swung open and Daryl ran inside, his crossbow raised and ready to fire. When he saw that it was just her and that there didn't seem to be anything attacking her, he lowered his weapon and took in the scene before him.

“The shelf broke,” Beth explained before he could say anything. “I saw _this_ ,” she held up the schnapps, “and I just took it down to get a closed look and then the thing just broke off the wall.”

Daryl glanced at the bottle that was still in her hands and for a moment, Beth thought that she might have seen recognition flash in his face. Maybe there was a story behind that too? She watched him as he stepped over the broken glass and took a closer look at where the shelf had been attached to the wall.

“It must've been mold or rust or somethin',” he told her. “The hinge broke off the wall completely.” He looked at her again, “You okay?”

Beth opened her mouth to reply, but the words died in her throat when a loud banging was heard accompanied with eerily familiar moans. They both turned their attention to behind Beth, only to see that a big grandfather-clock was covering a door that they hadn't even noticed. Beth's eyes widened when a cracking sound was heard and from what Beth could see, it seemed like the door had actually cracked under the pressure. It occurred to her then that it might not just have been the wall that held up the shelves that was moldy and old. Those who had opened the restaurant must have just bought some old building and renovated, covering up the bad foundation.

“ _Hide_ ,” Daryl hissed at her when another crack was heard and Beth didn't know why she did it, but she lowered herself down into a crouch and quickly got under the bar. A louder crack was heard and the growls of the walkers entered the room along with the shuffling sound of feet. Beth swallowed and tried to get a look at where Daryl had gone and she thought that she might have managed to see him hide behind the door that he had come through, but there would be no way for him to properly hide from the walkers.

Beth watched as the walkers stumbled past her hiding place, not one of them noticing her where she was under the bar. From what she could tell, there were at least twenty walkers and she had no idea where Daryl was. When she heard the dead one's growls intensify, Beth knew that Daryl must have been found and as soon as she heard the squelching sound of a walker being stabbed, she didn't think before jumping out from under the bar. Instantly, she lifted her knives and began throwing. One by one, the walkers fell, knives embedded into the back of their skulls, though that also caught the attention of some of them, who turned away from Daryl and turned towards her instead. Daryl was standing on one of the tables in the restaurant and was stabbing walkers that came too close directly in the head. His crossbow was loaded but still strapped on his back and Beth was quickly making her way through the walkers coming at her, all so that she could reach him. If they were going to die, they would go down fighting together.

She was out of throwing knives and she could see two walkers coming her way. As quickly as she could she bent down to retrieve her knives from the already fallen walkers and turned around just in time to lodge one of her thin knives in the eye of a walker. Black blood oozed from the wound, making her hand slippery and spraying her jacket. The walker had been big, one that had most likely been a man once upon a time with a thick belly. As soon as she had killed it, it tumbled forward, forcing her to step out of the way. The problem was that the moment that she had stepped away, she turned her back to the other oncoming walker and her knife slipped from between her fingers when she felt the walker grab at her arms, hissing in her face. Beth let out a small scream out of sheer surprise but pushed the walker backwards. The walker which had once been a woman kept coming at her, but Beth couldn't let go and reach for her knife because she knew that the walker would kill her.

Just when the walker leaned forward enough to take a bite out of her, one of Daryl's bolts pierced it's head and the walker toppled over, Beth along with it.

“Get up, get up!” Daryl yelled at her, running toward her and picking her up. Beth just had sense enough to pick up her knife before hurrying after him as they ran out to the car. She turned back, only to see a few more walkers stumbling their way. They had probably been holding up in the bed and breakfast and the sounds of the fight must have drawn them in.

Beth wasn't really sure how they made it to the car, or how she had gotten into the passenger seat before Daryl sped them away from the building. Her heart was racing and she could hardly breathe as she thought about how close she had gotten to dying.

“Are ya bit?” Daryl yelled, still speeding through the empty road, even though the restaurant could no longer be seen behind them.

“No!” Beth said back, her own voice higher than she had intended.

“Check again, Beth!” Daryl ordered, fear and anger and a thousand more emotions mixed into his voice.

Beth felt her stomach turn, “Daryl, pull over.” Her mumble was unheard though, because Daryl was still driving frantically and looking her way every other second. He would get them killed if he kept going like this.

“Check yourself for scratches!” he told her, his voice remaining raised.

“Daryl, pull over!” Beth screamed, holding on to the handle when Daryl suddenly hit the breaks, almost sending her flying. She barely managed to jump out of the car when bile rose in her throat and she emptied the contents of her stomach on the side of the road.

-§-

Daryl's hands were shaking as he covered his face before leaning his forehead against the steering wheel. He had almost lost her again. How could he have been so stupid? He should have known that it was all too good to be true, like everything else was these days.

Beth was still heaving outside and he wanted to go out there and help her, hold back her hair or whatever, but he couldn't find the strength to move. He knew that if he took even one step out of the car, his knees would buckle and he wasn't sure if he would be able to get up again.

He only turned towards Beth to watch her reach into her backpack and take out a bottle of water as well as the tube of toothpaste that they had brought with them. He watched her as she rinsed out her mouth, her eyes avoiding him from where she stood outside. She spit out the water and the toothpaste and took a few deep breaths, still looking pale, despite the walker blood that was covering her clothes and her hands. Daryl looked at his own hands and realized then that they too were covered in blood. They had stopped shaking now.

Beth stood outside in the cold for a few more minutes before finally making her way into the car again. She put the toothpaste and the bottle of water inside her backpack again and then turned to look at him. The look she was giving him and the way that her eyes filled with tears gave Daryl the impression that she was waiting on him to yell at her or something. She opened her mouth to say something, but before either of them knew what was happening, Daryl wrapped his hand around her ponytail and pulled her in to crash his lips against hers.

His mouth moved hungrily over hers and he figured it was the fear of almost having lost her – _again_ – as well as the need to feel her close and alive that made him act like this. Beth returned the kiss with equal fervor and Daryl couldn't say that he was surprised when she reached her hand down between his legs and pulled the lever to push his seat back. A second later, she climbed over to him and straddled him, her still bloodied hands tangling in his hair as his roamed her back.

Daryl unzipped her jacket and threw it in the seat behind them, needing to feel her skin against his. Beth breathed heavily against his lips as she got rid of his own jacket and lifted his shirt off of him along with the wife-beater he was wearing underneath. Daryl reached down, unbuckling his own belt as Beth pulled off her shirt and tank top, leaving her only in a gray cotton bra before she too unbuttoned her own pants, lifting herself enough so that he would be able to pull the material down her legs. Daryl lifted himself up and Beth assisted him in pulling his own pants and boxers down to his knees before she straddled him again.

Daryl groaned, his head falling back as Beth wrapped her hand around his already hard cock, giving his shaft a few quick strokes as she pressed her lips to the side of his neck. He knew that there was no time for foreplay though; he needed her and she needed him and there was no way in hell that he was going to be able to hold on long enough this time. Picking up his knife, he muttered a “Hold still,” to Beth before bringing the knife to the thin material of her panties, cutting through the sides before tearing them off her skin. Beth didn't even protest the action. Instead, she moaned into his neck as she ran his swollen head over her slit, coating him in her wetness before positioning him at her entrance. Daryl snapped his hips up, burying himself inside of her to the hilt and Beth let out a loud gasp before covering his lips with hers again. The feeling of her stretching around him was almost too much after such a long time of going without her in this way. Daryl forced himself to still for just a moment, enjoying the feel of her heat wrapped around him, before he began thrusting, almost violently, inside of her. Beth moaned and writhed, meeting his thrusts the best she could, gripping his shoulders for support as he pounded into her. It wasn't an easy thing to do considering that neither of them had removed their pants completely and the material was limiting their movements. Daryl suckled at the side of her neck, one of his hands supporting her back as she rocked against him while his other found her still covered breast, lowering the cups so that he could brush his fingers against her hardened nipples.

“ _Daryl!_ ” Beth gasped and he groaned as he felt her clenching around his length as her orgasm washed over her. With a few more thrusts, he followed her, biting gently into her shoulder as he squeezed his eyes shut as his thrusts slowed down before he just completely stopped, still inside of her. Beth collapsed against him and his hands found their way into her messy, sweaty hair, gently massaging her scalp. Her fingers were still digging into his skin and he wouldn't be surprised if she had drawn blood. He didn't care though because it would just be another sign that she was still here with him. They had made it out even though it had been a close call.

He tugged gently at her hair, forcing her to meet his eyes before he kissed her. “I was scared,” he whispered against her lips, almost as if it was a secret. Around them the windows were foggy and he was glad that the road had been empty and that they had been lucky enough that no dead nor living thing had stumbled upon them in their vulnerable state.

“You're Daryl Dixon,” Beth whispered back, brushing his hair back from his face, “you ain't afraid of nothin'.”

The words that he had told her so long ago would forever be burned into his mind and he wondered, whether this was another sign that her memories were actually returning to her more and more.

“'M afraid of losin' _you_ ,” he told her, knowing that it was a secret he had already told her so many times.

“You and I don't die,” she said, the confidence in her tone taking him aback. “We've been here since the beginning and we've made it, even though people around us have died. We're strong and Daryl,” she paused, “you're never gonna lose me again.” It was as if she was reminding him of what she had said when they had been holed up in that cabin while she had been sick. He had admitted to his fear of losing her back then too and she had told him then that she wasn't going anywhere. If today was any proof, she intended on keeping that promise and he was damned if he wouldn't help her do it.

“We should get cleaned up and dressed,” Beth then said and Daryl realized that he was still very much inside of her, his seed sticky between them. Their bodies were radiating heat but he could feel the coldness coming back, chilling his naked torso.

“Yeah,” Daryl agreed, but he pulled Beth a little closer before softly pressing his lips to hers again. “Just a few more minutes,” he said, earning a giggle out of Beth and a hard kiss press against his lips.

  


  


  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooo, they did the deed - FINALLY. I guess it could have been under better circumstances, but seriously, the tension has been killing them both (and me too for that matter) and with a close call like that, emotions run high, I suppose. (And it is smut week, but this had nothing to do with that! Still, there are some great works out there!).
> 
> Either way, I hope you liked the chapter! I'm working on chapter 7, but I have a feeling that that too is going to be finished sooner, possibly some time next week or so. So don't forget to comment and tell me what you thought and keep an eye out for Endurance! :)
> 
> Thank you for reading and supporting me!
> 
> Lots of love! xx


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After crossing into Virginia, Daryl begins to worry about the lack of gas while Beth wants to keep going.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for not updating this story for, like, a month. I'm actually kind of ashamed of myself. I've been so wrapped up in Endurance that I lost my way on this one... I hope you're still hanging in there and I'm going to do my best to update more frequently here!

# A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)

## Chapter 7

  


Beth sighed, looking at the empty road ahead of them. They were looking for cars to try and siphon gas from, but so far, they hadn't been able to see a single one. She had been driving for a couple of hours, stopping at every gas stop, just to try their luck, only to come up empty.

“We passed into Virginia a coupl'a days ago,” Daryl pointed out, looking over the maps. “Maybe we should take one of the highways instead?”

“We can't risk getting stuck on a road,” Beth stated. “People who tried to run during the Outbreak probably took the highway and sure, there's bound to be a lot of cars there, but we can't risk it like that.”

“Hm…” Daryl hummed.

“What?” Beth sighed, knowing that there was something on his mind.

“Maybe we should just turn around an' go back,” he said.

“To the farm, you mean?” Beth asked.

“Yeah,” Daryl said, putting away the maps. “The radios no longer work, we're startin' to run out of gas… Could be a sign. We know how to read 'em, Beth.”

Beth could feel his eyes on her, but she knew that she wanted to keep going for just a little longer. They had two more tanks of gas and she knew that he was afraid that it wouldn't be enough for them to get back home. Well, to be honest, it probably wouldn't be, though she had to believe that they would find more. A feeling in her gut made her not want to give up yet.

She didn't reply to his statement. She only kept her eyes on the road and continued to drive.

-§-

Daryl chewed on the pad of his thumb, not looking towards Beth as she kept driving them forward. He refrained from sighing to himself because he knew that she was going to be stubborn about all of this.

A couple of days had passed since the incident at the restaurant, although, Daryl still couldn't get the thing out of his head. Having such a close call with Beth again had been frightening and he knew that they hadn't really talked about what had happened. Instead, they had done probably one of the most stupid things they had ever done and just let out all of their emotions through sex.

He hadn't minded it at the time, especially considering how long it had been since he and Beth had been together in that way, but he knew that they should have at least had a conversation afterward about everything that had happened. Admitting that he had been scared of losing her was one thing that he had done that he was actually proud of, tough, it wasn't as if Beth didn't already know that.

One of his main problems with their emotionally fueled coupling was that neither of them had thought to stop for a moment to use protection and he hadn't even pulled out. When they had been cleaning up and getting dressed again, Beth had simply told him that it was okay because she hadn't had her period in a good while and that she was assuming that they were safe. Instead of dwelling on it, Daryl had decided to accept what she was saying, but a part of him remained unsure.

That same part of him wanted them to turn around and start heading back to the farm. They were running out of gas and there were no cars in sight to siphon from. Back at the restaurant, Beth had lost her throwing knives and he had lost a couple of bolts, which meant that they didn't have as many weapons as they had had when they had set out on their journey. That made the whole trip even more dangerous and from what Daryl could tell from the maps, they were coming closer and closer to Washington DC, which he wanted to avoid more than anything.

Big cities meant a lot of walkers, which naturally meant more danger. He wanted to keep Beth and himself as far away from that as possible. He glanced toward his girl, observing her face as she focused on the road. He loved her so much and he wished that she would just see where he was coming from. There was no way that he could handle another close call with her; it would break him, no doubt.

Beth began breaking and Daryl looked ahead, seeing a couple of cars on the side of the road, which was surrounded by a small forest on one side and a lake one the other. He figured that it was her silent way of telling him that they were stopping to try and siphon, but Daryl doubted they would find anything in the cars.

Half an hour later, Daryl threw the tube back into the pickup, slamming the cover that Eugene had made them down loudly. He let his hands rest flat on the car, bowing his head as he took a couple of calming breaths.

“We're gonna run out of gas, Beth,” he said, his voice low. “Ain't nothin' for miles but Washington an' we can't risk goin' there.”

“Daryl, we talked about this–”

“No, Beth,” Daryl pushed away from the truck, turning to look at her. “You talked an' I listened. Ya didn't even wanna hear me out, girl. That ain't us.”

“Maybe we'll find something along the way, Daryl,” Beth said. “Should we really risk that?”

“We can't be riskin' our lives on the slim chance that there might be some place better than our farm out there,” he returned. “Being close to big cities ain't safe.”

“If you're worried about DC, I've actually been thinkin' about it,” Beth told him. “I know that it's a risk but maybe the walkers in there have gone out of the city, looking for food? I mean, the cities are ruined and the people who survived the initial Outbreak are most likely out there somewhere in the wild, like us.”

“Beth, are ya even hearing yourself?” Daryl snapped. “We're _not_ goin' any further. We got two damn tanks of gas left an' that'll be enough for a couple of hundred miles. We need to find more fuel or we're gonna be walkin' back to the farm!”

“You don't have to yell!” Beth said loudly, her eyes narrowing at him.

“I ain't gonna let you keep makin' the shots like this, Beth!” Daryl growled at her, closing the distance between them as he stood with his chest pressed to hers because the blonde just wouldn't back down. “I should'a made the call to go back when ya got sick! There was no reason for us to keep goin' an' if we'd just gone back, the shit at the restaurant might never have happened!”

“Is that what all of this is about?” Beth glared at him. “Is this about what happened in the restaurant?”

“It's 'bout everythin' that lead up to it,” Daryl answered, his voice once again dangerously low as he glared back at her.

“Why don't you think I can handle myself?” Beth frowned at him, taking a step back this time. “I did it in the restaurant well enough.”

“Well enough might not cut it next time, Beth,” Daryl said. “That's why I ain't riskin' it.”

“I've survived everythin' that you've survived too, Daryl,” Beth argued. “I've been shot in the head and I survived, gone through a Winter alone with Morgan. Everything that you've gone through, I have too, one way or another. We're _equals_ here!” She yelled the last part at him and he flinched when her voice cracked. “You aren't supposed to be my chaperone, you're supposed to be my partner, Daryl!”

Daryl watched as Beth turned her back to him and walked off into the woods. He wanted to reach out to her and stop her but he knew that she needed a moment to cool down. Hell, he needed it too. He knew that what he was doing wasn't exactly right; they _should_ be making the calls together. Daryl was wrong in treating Beth the way he was but at the same time, he was very well aware of the fact that she was making decisions that were too risky for them. There was no way that he was just going to shut up about it. At times, he could be fairly explosive when it came to his emotions for the woman and he knew that he wasn't the best at keeping his anger at bay. He should have approached her in a calmer manner and he shouldn't have lost it the way he had, but damn it, his fear of losing her had gotten in the way of rational thinking again.

He needed to talk to her and apologize for letting the fear take over again, that much he was sure of. Once he did, he hoped he would be able to talk to her calmly about the issue and maybe they would be able to resolve it. There was no way that Beth didn't see any sense in his words, but he couldn't understand why she was so adamant to keep going. She believed that there might be something out there that would help them, although no matter how optimistic Beth was, Daryl just couldn't see it at the moment. All he could think about was how much they were risking their lives and how stupid this entire road-trip idea had been. Why had he agreed to go alone with Beth? He knew that there was a safety in numbers and if they had been more than two people at that damned restaurant, they would have been able to handle the situation a lot better.

Daryl sighed to himself and once again rested his hands on the truck, taking a few deep breaths. He heard a rustle from behind him and he raised his head, expecting to see Beth come back out of the small forest. However, the sound quieted and he instantly reached for his crossbow when he began feeling as if he was being watched. Staying quiet for a moment, he listened intently, but he could hear no moans that indicated that there were any walkers close by. It was eerie quiet, which only bothered him more. He would give Beth half an hour and then he would go after her. There was no way in hell that they would be staying in the middle of the road like this for too long.

-§-

Beth was fuming. In fact, she was pretty certain that if she would have been in a cartoon movie, she would have steam coming out of her ears and her face would most likely be all comically red. She couldn't believe that Daryl was once again trying to make all the decisions on his own. He had been close to doing it back at the cabin, when Beth had gotten sick, but Beth had believed that they had passed that stage where he would make those kinds of calls just because he was afraid.

On some level, she understood his fear of losing her because she was just as scared to lose him. She loved him so much and most of the time she didn't even want to think about how he must have felt during those seven months when they had been apart. Back then, from what Daryl had told her, he had loved her on some level. Beth hadn't had any memories of him which meant that she had gotten away with not feeling the pain of losing someone she had loved, though Daryl had been forced with living with that pain.

Beth stopped walking, coming to an abrupt stop before lowering herself down to sit on a log. She swallowed thickly as she felt tears stinging in her eyes because she knew that it wasn't all Daryl's fault that they had had an argument. She was being irrational, thinking that they would find something better somewhere out in the wilderness or closer to Washington DC and she was actually yelling at and fighting with Daryl over the matter. She couldn't blame him for trying to keep them safe – for trying to keep _her_ safe.

Tears began sliding down her cheeks and guilt overcame her. How could she have acted like that toward the man that she loved? How could she yell at him and question everything that the man was about, deep into his very core? She _knew_ Daryl and him wanting to protect her at every cost shouldn't surprise her; she would do anything to keep him safe too, after all.

She didn't understand what was happening with her. Losing her temper like this, being emotional and stressed out as well as her memories coming back more and more over the past few weeks. They were all taking a physical toll on her and she was beginning to think that it had been a mistake to agree to go on this trip. At the time, she had wanted to get away from the farm and be alone with Daryl and she knew that they had responsibilities, but she had expected them to have at least some time to just _be_ with one another.

That quick, emotion-fueled union in the truck after getting out of the damned restaurant had been something that they both had needed but neither of them had thought very rationally at the time. They had been more relaxed afterward, but Beth knew that they hadn't actually talked about what they should do next. They should have talked about it and it was probably her fault that they hadn't.

Standing up, Beth wiped her tears away before beginning to walk back to the road again. She needed to talk to Daryl and tell him that she was sorry for everything and explain to him that she didn't understand why she was being like this. Maybe there was something wrong with her? Perhaps it was a side-affect from being shot in the head and things in her brain starting to right themselves? Or could it be something else?

Beth reached the road and spotted Daryl standing with his crossbow in his hands, looking around suspiciously. Her heart beat in her chest so wildly that she thought it might just jump right out of it and she hurried her steps a little. Daryl saw her approaching and instantly lowered his crossbow, walking towards her. Beth ran the final few meters between them and threw her arms around his neck, pressing her face against his chest as she embraced him tightly.

“Beth, 'm sorry,” Daryl said quietly after a moment, as his fingers tangled in her hair and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“No, Daryl,” Beth shook her head, looking up into his eyes. “ _I'm_ sorry for losing it like that. I have no idea why I acted like that. I'm sorry.”

Daryl's grip on her hair tightened slightly as he lightly tugged her head back so that he could lower his lips to hers. Beth met him half-way, melting into the kiss he was offering her with enthusiasm. She loved him and he loved her and they were okay together. That was the most important thing right now.

Beth's tongue darted out to trace Daryl's lower lip and she heard him let out a low moan, opening his mouth up to her. She gripped his shirt, pressing her lips to his furiously, trying to show him how sorry she was for saying the things she had said and for acting the way she had acted. Daryl massaged her scalp gently, returning the kiss with equal fervor for a moment longer.

It came to an abrupt stop when Beth's mind registered the sound of a twig snapping somewhere behind her. They pulled apart at the exact same time, Daryl lifting his loaded crossbow in the direction of the woods as Beth swung around to stand by Daryl's side, her hunting knife already out of its sheath.

A man stepped out of the woods, his hands raised above his head. There were no weapons visible on him but Beth tightened her grip on her knife, even though nothing about the man screamed _killer_.

“Hello,” he said, clearing his throat and looking quite awkward for having interrupted their kiss. Beth pressed her lips together, feeling nervousness rolling off of Daryl's body from where he stood. He was ready to attack at any moment, if needed.

When neither Beth nor Daryl said anything, the man approached them slowly, coming to a stop only about three meters away when Daryl raised his crossbow a little higher, indicating that he had come close enough.

“Eh,” the man began, shifting awkwardly on his feet, “I mean you no harm. I get it, stranger danger and all that… My name is Aaron.”

Beth only kept looking at him, barely breathing, tightening her grip on her knife.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it was a short chapter and some of you guessed it a while ago, but yeah, Alexandria is coming up! Aren't you glad that they sort of made up? I felt awful for having them fight, but all couples have their ups and downs! :) Tell me what you thought of the chapter as a whole and what you're hoping to see in the future! :) Much love! xx
> 
> P.S. And those of you who haven't checked out my other Bethyl story Endurance, please do so! It's a lot darker than the Blink series but so far it's been getting mainly positive feedback! :)


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Aaron's arrival, Beth and Daryl are forced to make a decision regarding how they want to proceed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are no words that can convey just how sorry I am for leaving all of you hanging with this story. There aren't many chapters left (like 7 maybe) and I am going to try to focus on finishing it as soon as possible. I have a lot of college stuff right now though, but on June 8 I have my last exam for this term and then I'm off on Summer break. Then I'll have much more time to write.  
> I've been focusing so much on Endurance but I feel like I want to finish this story, especially since the chapters probably won't get very long now towards the end. Either way, I hope you enjoy it! :) xx

#  **A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)**

##  **Chapter 8**

 

Beth held her breath for a second. The man – _ Aaron _ – remained standing at a safe distance from them with his hands held high. If she and Daryl killed him, they would be killing a man who wasn't even trying to defend himself and who so far hadn't done anything threatening towards them. Beth didn't like the idea of that, although, she knew that if needed, they would do the necessary thing.

“I've been following you guys for a couple of days now,” Aaron said. “I mean, I kept myself at a safe distance since I didn't want you to see my car, but I had to get close enough to get a feel of what kind of people you are.”

Beth raised an eyebrow at him, narrowing her eyes. His eyes settled on her face and for a moment, he looked a little paler and took on a more nervous look. “Well, I'm sure if I wasn't freaking you out a moment ago, I certainly am now,” he chuckled for a moment. His quiet laughter died out when he saw that neither Beth nor Daryl seemed very amused by his attempted joke.

“You been followin' us,” Daryl repeated, his voice rough. “ _ Why _ ?”

Beth could still feel the tension rolling off of him and she knew that he wanted answers just as much as she did.

“I'm a recruiter,” Aaron explained.

“A recruiter for what?” Beth wondered.

Aaron still wasn't moving from his spot, but Beth could tell that he too was getting a bit uncomfortable with having weapons pointed at his face.

“It's a safe haven,” he replied.

“We've seen our fair share of those,” Daryl grunted. “Ain't nowhere safe unless ya make it safe yourself.”

Aaron nodded slowly, “I understand that you're weary… But this is real. It's a real Safe Zone, with no dead ones. A community.”

“That's somethin' we've heard before,” Daryl snapped.

“Look,” Aaron said, slowly lowering his hands, “I've got pictures in my backpack. I'll show you, if you'll just let me grab them.”

Beth looked at Daryl, but his eyes were still very much set on the possible threat.

“Throw me your bag an' I'll check myself,” Daryl said.

“Okay, okay,” Aaron agreed. “Just let me remove it from my back. I don't have a gun on me, but I do have one in the bag. I have a knife strapped to my belt for the roamers, but nothing else.”

“Why are you tellin' us this?” Beth frowned.

“You're going to want to check me for weapons, right?” Aaron offered her a kind smile that only made her want to run the other way. Kindness was something that she wasn't familiar with when it came to people outside her family. “Figured I might as well be honest.”

“It's not gonna win you any brownie points,” Beth pointed out. “If we think you're a threat, you're dead.”

Aaron eyed her as he removed the backpack from his back, holding it out for her. Beth turned to Daryl, who nodded, giving her the clear to approach the stranger. She held her gun aimed at him before taking a couple of steps closer. She held out her hand and Aaron handed her the bag before Beth moved backward again. Kneeling down next to Daryl, she placed her gun on the ground, close enough to reach and then started looking through the contents of the backpack.

“There are apple trees just outside of our wall,” Aaron said when Beth took out a jar and looked at it curiously. “We make our own applesauce.”

“Who has time to make applesauce these days?” Beth wondered out loud, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Aaron didn't reply and Daryl only huffed. After taking out a few more cans of food and bottles of water, Beth reached for a big, yellow envelope. She opened it with caution, almost as if she was expecting it to blow up in her face somehow, but soon enough she had a stack of pictures in her hands. Looking through them, she saw a big wall and houses; lots and lots of houses. She lifted her head and looked at Daryl. The man was telling the truth about a safe place, from what she could tell, although that didn't necessarily mean that everything there was fine. Daryl had told Beth about the place called Woodbury and the memories of the attack on the farm just a few months back were still fresh in her memory. Besides, she was remembering more and more every day, so she knew that people weren't always what they seemed.

Daryl watched her for only a moment before he started lowering his crossbow. Beth glanced at Aaron who had let out a small sigh of relief before taking a couple of steps toward Daryl with his hand outstretched.

“I'm glad you decided to hear me out–”

_ Crack! _

Beth's eyes widened as she watched Aaron topple over with the force of Daryl's punch. The man was knocked unconscious immediately and blood began dripping from his nose. Beth looked at Daryl who rubbed his knuckles before looking at her again.

“Was that necessary?” she asked him, not being able to help the exasperated tone.

“Yeah,” Daryl smirked. “I might 'ave over-done it a bit.”

“Over-done it? You knocked him out cold,” Beth pointed out, kneeling down to check if the man was still breathing. “And I'm pretty sure he's gonna have to set his nose when he wakes up.”

“Well, we gotta tie him up an' we needed time to figure out what to do with all of this,” Daryl said. “Ain't like we could'a just asked him to give us five minutes alone to talk.” He rummaged through one of their own packs for some rope.

“Okay, I get it,” Beth rolled her eyes. “I still kind of feel bad for him.” She held out the pictures for him to take while Daryl handed her the rope and she began tying Aaron up. Daryl flipped through the pictures before pausing. Beth looked over at him and Daryl bit his lip.

“You were right,” he finally said. “About there being a place somewhere…”

“It can be too good to be true,” Beth said as she finished with the knots around Aaron's wrists. “What do we do?”

“We can't trust him, Beth,” Daryl stated. “It ain't just 'bout us. It's 'bout our family. Can't decide on our next move 'til we hear him out.”

Beth nodded, looking down at the still unconscious man. “If you hadn't knocked him out,” Beth sing-songed, walking over to him. Daryl snorted at her as he took out a cigarette out of his pack and placed it between his lips, but he didn't light it just yet. “You know, I think he interrupted something when he stepped out of those woods,” Beth said, reaching up to rest her fingers on the top of Daryl's jacket. Daryl's cheeks turned just a small shade darker and he looked down to Aaron again.

“We can put him in the truck, if it makes you more comfortable, Mr. Dixon,” Beth smiled, leaning her forehead forward so that she could rest if against Daryl's chest. His hand came up to rest against her elbow for a moment and he squeezed lightly before leaning down. Beth pulled back and reached up so that she could pull his cigarette away from his lips and then pressed a light kiss against them. He responded immediately, but pressed back against her just barely before pulling away. Beth smiled nonetheless and returned his cigarette to him, brushing her thumb against his stubbly cheek. It was at times like these that he reminded her of just how much she loved him. Just an hour or two ago, they had argued and yelled at one another but when they had been approached by Aaron, they had stood together, just like they were supposed to. It made her feel good that they had gotten some of their issues out, although, she was afraid that this community that Aaron was going to talk to them about, would bring up some other argument. She wanted what was best for their family and not only them. If the place actually was as good as it seemed, it would mean a safe place for Maggie and Glenn's baby to grow up and for Judith as well. Yes, the farm had become a home for them and there weren't many walkers in the area. The problem about it was that it was so remote, that they always had to drive out to warehouses and malls to scavenge supplies and tools for repairing the fences around the land. The food that they had was sufficient for the time being, though, the winter hadn't been the best and the animals seemed to have scattered. There was no way of knowing for sure how much longer they would be able to hold out there until they were forced to move, despite having electricity and running water. The few seeds that they had found had been planted, but some of them didn't look as if they were ever going to grow, even though Carol had put the planted pots inside.

Beth looked down toward Aaron again, hoping that the man would wake up soon enough so that they could talk properly, without having to point weapons at his face.

-§-

It took Aaron about half an hour to wake up. Beth didn’t say anything to him as she approached him and set his nose, but Daryl couldn’t help but glare at the man. It all sounded too perfect and if Daryl had learned anything with Woodbury and Terminus, he knew that perfect was dangerous.

“Thank you,” Aaron groaned after Beth finished cleaning up his face.

Beth didn’t say anything to him, but her eyes flickered over to Daryl. He gave her a short nod and then stubbed out his cigarette. Kneeling down in front of Aaron, he stared at his face, not showing any kind of emotion except for annoyance toward the man.

“How many walkers have you killed?” Daryl asked.

“What?” Aaron frowned, looking confused.

“Just answer the questions,” Beth said and Daryl didn’t have to look at her to know that she was rolling her eyes.

“I don’t know,” Aaron said, glancing from her to Daryl again. He shook his head slightly, “I’ve killed quite a few whenever I’ve been out scouting for people, but usually, I try to avoid them.”

“How many people have you killed?” Daryl continued.

Aaron’s expression darkened slightly, “One.”

Daryl narrowed his eyes, “Why?”

“He was already dying,” Aaron said. “His name was Greg and he used to recruit with me. He was bit severely…  _ Gutted _ , actually. He was just bleeding out and he wanted me to end his suffering. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.”

“That jus’ means ya ain’t been through a lot,” Daryl said. “If puttin’ down one of yours is the hardest thing you’ve done.”

“Is that supposed to mean that you’ve done worse?” Aaron wondered. “Is that supposed to make it easier somehow? It’s different for everyone, Daryl.”

“Didn’t say that it wasn’t,” Daryl said. “Jus’ said ya ain’t been through the same stuff we’ve been through.”

“Our community has been there since the beginning,” Aaron nodded. “Maybe that’s why. I was out there for a while too, but I’m guessing not as long as you guys.” He looked at them curiously for a moment and Daryl could sense that he was trying to analyze them. “How long  _ have  _ you been out here?”

Daryl stood up and looked at Beth. He wasn’t sure just how much he should tell the man, considering the circumstances. From what Daryl could tell, Aaron wasn’t necessarily a bad person but that was what was making Daryl uneasy. He had seen the pictures of the community and it all seemed legit so far, but there could be more to it. Daryl knew that Beth wanted to give the man a fair shot, but Daryl wasn’t sure he was willing to risk it. Beth had lost her knives in the restaurant and he had lost too many bolts already. They didn’t have much fuel left and even fewer options.

“We’ve been on the road for a few weeks,” Beth replied to Aaron’s question.

“Did you have a safe place before that?” Aaron questioned, but this time Beth didn’t say anything.

Instead, Daryl was the one who spoke, a dangerous growl present in his tone, “That ain’t any of your business. We wanna know more ‘bout this safe haven. Where is it? How many people to ya have? Women, children?”

“I’m going to answer all of your questions, but first of all, my wrists are a bit sore,” Aaron sheepishly replied, lifting his tied up hands.

“We ain’t takin’ ‘em off ‘til we get the information we want,” Daryl told him.

“Understandable,” Aaron said, nodding at him. Daryl glared at him though, because it seemed like that was exactly what Aaron was:  _ too understanding.  _ A part of him wanted to shake the man and tell him about all the horrible things they had done over the years and tell him just how lucky he was that he hadn’t come across anyone like the people Daryl and his family had. Aaron seemed to be trying to see the good in everyone, and in Daryl’s mind, he had just been fortunate so far not to have come across anyone who could be a threat to him. A community like the one in the picture would without a doubt be a tempting thing for outsiders.

“I can’t tell you where the Safe Zone is until you agree to come with me,” Aaron said. “That’s just a policy we have when recruiting,” he was quick to explain when Daryl scowled at him. “We have about eighty people there now. Our oldest is eighty-one and our youngest is eleven months.”

“A baby?” Beth asked. “Do you have doctors there?”

“We have a surgeon,” Aaron nodded. Daryl could feel Beth’s eyes on him and he clenched his jaw again. “Two nurses are there too and we have a psychologist who has finished a year of med-school too.”

“What about food an’ other resources?” Daryl asked.

“We have a good Winter storage,” Aaron told him. “In the beginning, we scavenged what we could find and later used seeds to plant crops and other things. We have chickens and pigs, a cow,” he counted. “It’s been a good year.”

“Sounds too good to believe,” Beth stated.

“I know it does,” he said. “But I swear that I’m telling the truth.”

Daryl could tell too, but it was still too good to be true. He couldn’t help but be skeptical about it all, although, he must have been spending too much time with Beth alone because he suddenly found himself hoping that the place was real.

“The two nurses,” Beth began slowly. “Does either of them have any knowledge in childbirth?”

Aaron seemed startled, his eyes widening for the fraction of a second, “Are you…?” The man trailed off as his eyes moved down to Beth’s stomach and Daryl froze when he realized just what he was thinking.

“Not  _ me _ ,” Beth hissed. “Someone I know.”

Aaron chuckled sheepishly, “Sorry, I just assumed… So you have more people somewhere?”

“Far away,” Daryl said, wanting to shake away Aaron’s earlier assumption about Beth. He didn’t want to think about it, but for a moment his mind questioned the possibility considering everything that had happened after the restaurant. Once again, he forced the thoughts away, because it  _ wasn’t  _ true. “They’re too far away for ya to get to. You’d never find ‘em on your own anyway.”

“I wouldn’t go looking for them,” Aaron shook his head. “If you two want to bring them back, however, I’d be willing to help drive an RV there and help you all move. That depends on whether you’d want to stay in the Safe Zone.”

Daryl looked at Beth and he could see the wheels turning inside her head. He knew what she was thinking, because he was thinking the same thing. Wherever the Safe Zone was, it sounded like a good thing and Aaron seemed to be genuine regarding them having a choice if they want to stay there or not. Still, it worried Daryl that whoever it was that was in charge there wouldn’t be the same. The people of Woodbury had been ignorant and naive and they hadn’t seen the Governor for what he really was until it had been too late. Aaron was someone who worked for someone else and there was no way for Daryl or Beth to know how that person was or if they could be trusted.

“Who’s in charge there?” Daryl finally asked, looking at Aaron once more.

“A woman named Deanna,” Aaron said. “She used to be a politician in Ohio, I think.”

“A politician knows how to sway people one way or another,” Daryl huffed.

“Deanna isn’t like that,” Aaron argued. “She lets people have their input, but ultimately, she is the one keeping the community together by upholding the rules there. Her husband Reg is the architect who started on the walls when the Outbreak first occurred. They are good people, I promise.”

Daryl looked at Beth again and this time, she met his gaze. He sighed to himself because he knew that there was only one way to see if the community that Aaron was talking about really was safe. Besides, what other choice did they have? They would be out of fuel soon enough and Aaron seemed to have plenty stored away somewhere. If the doctors and nurses really were trustworthy, they would eventually be of good help to Maggie and her unborn child. Daryl knew that he and Beth needed to check the place out. It was the only thing they could do so that they wouldn’t miss a perfect opportunity like it.

“If we come with ya, we’ll drive,” Daryl told him. “We get a coupl’a days to look at the place an’ consider if we wanna stay there. If we don’t ya let us go, deal?”

“Of course,” Aaron nodded. “I’ll even pack you some supplies for the road. The only thing is that Deanna’s going to want to interview you when you get there. It’s something she does to everyone, to see where they would be able to fit in the community,” he explained when he saw the confusion on Beth and Daryl’s faces. “It’s like a job interview.”

Daryl clenched his jaw but remained silent. His eyes narrowed, though, he tried his best not to give away the fact that he wasn’t particularly fond of the idea of being interviewed by a stranger. He had found his place in this new world by protecting his family, but he wasn’t sure that he would fit in anywhere else. The thought of once again becoming an outcast made him feel sick and scenarios of being thrown out played in front of his eyes.

The thoughts evaporated when he felt Beth’s fingers reaching for his own. She leaned into him, as if sensing that he needed her close and he closed his eyes, turning his face away from Aaron so that he could move closer to Beth. He might not be fond of displaying his affection to her in the public eye, but at the moment, he didn’t care. He just knew that he needed to feel her close in order to make sense of the decision that the two of them had already made regarding the Safe Zone.

In the end, he sighed, “Okay. We’ll come with ya.”

“Excellent,” Aaron smiled.

Daryl squeezed Beth’s hand tightly, “But you’ll be in the back with Beth an’ if ya want us to untie ya, you’ll have to live with havin’ a gun pointed at ya ‘til we get to where we’re goin’.”

Aaron paled slightly but eventually nodded, holding up his tied hands. “I’ll be on my best behavior,” he told them. “Normally, we don’t do things this way, but Deanna is just going to have to deal with me making an exception for the two of you. I really feel like you’ll be able to contribute to the community once you get settled.”

Daryl only hummed, not offering him another reply as he glanced Beth’s way once more. He hoped that Aaron was telling the truth, for both of their sakes and for the sake of their family.

-§-

Beth couldn’t help but find Aaron a bit amusing. As she sat in the back of the truck with him, they had freed his hands like promised and she held her gun aimed at his foot at all times. The safety was on though, because she didn’t really think the man would pull anything. After all, he seemed to want to get back to his home as much as she was looking forward to seeing the place. They had left Aaron’s own car behind, but he assured them that he would head back in a day or two to get it. If it was gone by then, they had plenty more at the Safe Zone, which he shared was located in Alexandria.

What Beth found amusing about him wasn’t the fact that he was talking to them as if they had been friends for years, but rather the fact that he seemed to be completely genuine. As he told them about Eric, his partner, Beth’s eyes connected with Daryl’s in the rearview mirror because he spoke of the other man with such affection that it was highly unlikely that he was lying about him. Aaron shared how after Greg, Eric had worked with him a while as a recruiter, but he had gotten injured during their last run and Aaron had been on his own since.

Beth had her reservations about sharing too much about their own family. A part of her wanted to tell Aaron at least a little about them, but she wasn’t sure that Daryl would want her to. They hadn’t gotten much time to speak after they had put Aaron in the truck and she only had a few glances to go on. Aaron seemed to sense her reservations though because he gladly went on to share about the first time he laid eyes on Eric and how long it had taken for them to admit that they loved each other. It all made Beth think about her and Daryl and how much they had struggled to get to where they were today. From her being shot and presumed dead to her memory loss, they certainly had had a lot of difficult and trying times since they had been reunited. Not to speak of the time it had taken for them to finally confess their feelings for one another and then Beth’s doubts on whether Daryl was in love with the person that she had been before or the person that she was now. He had assured her that he loved her for who she was and she knew that her feelings for him were the same. She loved him more than anything and that was exactly why she was tired of fighting.

With the way that her memories were acting up though, giving her headaches and making her think of things that had been in the past, she had become more and more irritable. She loved Daryl for being understanding, but she understood that even he had his limits. She didn’t want to push him too far and he had to know that she understood that he was just looking out for her. He was right to worry about the place that Aaron was talking about, but Beth wanted it to be true. She wanted to find a place where Maggie would be able to have her baby and where they would be able to live without constantly having to worry about food and rebuilding fences. If Alexandria proved to be a good place, they could bring their family there and they might be able to live out their days there.

Beth lost track of time as she got lost in her thoughts. Before she knew it, Daryl was pulling the car to a stop and the only thing she could see in front of them was a big wall.

Daryl turned around in his seat, shooting Aaron a look, “If this ends up bein’ a trap, you’re gonna be sorry.”

“You’re about to walk into a place where violence isn’t permitted,” Aaron stated. Beth noticed something in his eyes for a moment, but it was gone before she could analyze it. “There are families in there and old people. There’s not going to be any need for violence.”

They stepped out of the car and Beth nodded curtly at Daryl, keeping her gun aimed at the wall as they slowly approached it. Aaron was walking between them, Daryl in the front and Beth behind them both. They walked closer to the wall and Beth tensed when she saw how Daryl stopped in his step. She wasn’t sure what it was that was going on for a short moment, but then she realized that he was listening. Beth focused and what she heard was quickly drowned out by her own heartbeat pounding in her ears. It had been too long since she had heard children laughing so wholeheartedly and it made her think about little Judith. Enough time had passed for her to miss the little girl. However, hearing children's laughter after weeks of only Daryl as company, Beth couldn’t help but start feeling hopeful. If there were children inside Alexandria, there might be a place for Judith there, and also, a place for them all.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that some of you might not have wanted for them to go to Alexandria, but this is the route I always planned on going with this sequel. I have, however, taken some liberties with changing some of the things in Alexandria. For example, they have a good food supply and cows, which they clearly do not have on the show (until Daryl negotiated his way to one of them cows). Also, the idea of Aaron having killed one person (Greg is made up too) is something I wanted to have in this story. Remember, I enjoy planting small clues as to where the story is headed. It's all breadcrumbs scattered over the course of the story.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading! If you have time for it, a comment would be highly appreciated! Until next time! :) xx


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth and Daryl enter the Safe Zone and go through the interviewing process.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Once again life managed to get in the way of my writing, both when it comes to this fic as well as Endurance. Either way, I finally finished this chapter today and I decided to post it immediately so I apologize for any spelling mistakes that might have made their way in there. I really hope it makes up for lost time, even though there's quite a bit of dialogue in the beginning of it. However, towards the end, I let Beth and Daryl do their speaking with actions rather than actual words, he he he...
> 
> Also, special thanks to "I. A. Turner" on ff.net who read Blink and suggested I listen to the song "Silhouette" by Aquillo. I can without a doubt say that the song fit perfectly to the story and served as a source of inspiration for my feels as I wrote the final scenes of this chapter. I strongly suggest you listen to it, because it was on repeat as I wrote a certain scene! ;) If any of you have any suggestions on songs, feel free to sent them my way!
> 
> Please enjoy and thank you once again for your support and understanding!

#  **A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)**

##  **Chapter 9**

 

It took a while for the gates to open and Beth waited with anticipation. She came to stand next to Daryl, wanting nothing more than to reach out for his hand, but she knew that they needed to be alert now more than ever. The sound of children laughing and playing could still be heard and it made Beth feel funny inside. It was a good sign, of course, but she still couldn’t shake the fact that it all seemed too good to be true.

Aaron walked around the two of them and stepped closer to the gate.

“It’s me, Aiden! Open up!” he called out.

Beth listened intently, hearing voices and whistles on the other side of the wall and then, finally, the gate was being pulled open. She held her gun tightly in her hand and Daryl kept his crossbow aimed at the two men who appeared on the other side of the wall. They were carrying weapons as well, but by the way that they were holding them, Beth was sure that they weren’t the best at using them. There was something about their stance that told her that they were uncertain about them but at the same time, they both carried smug faces which she assumed meant that they thought they were better than others.

“That’s Aiden and Nicholas,” Aaron explained to them quietly. “Aiden is Deanna and Reg’s oldest son and he thinks he runs the place just because he stands guard at the gate. Nicholas is his right hand man.”

Beth frowned, “They look confident.”

“They’re harmless asshats,” Aaron declared, shaking his head. “As I said, Deanna is the one in charge and she doesn’t let them get out of hand.”

“We jus’ s’posed to take your word on it?” Daryl asked.

“Yes,” Aaron nodded. “I promise that you’ll be treated right.”

“This ain’t prom night,” Daryl told him. “We’re checkin’ this place out for our family, not just for us. Y’all gotta treat us like ya normally would. Don’t want no ass-kissin’ bein’ done just to get us to stay.”

Aaron chuckled at that, “Trust me. No one here is going to kiss anyone’s ass.”

Beth hadn’t known Aaron for very long, but so far he hadn’t lied to them. She didn’t think he’d have a reason to start now.

“Aaron,” Aiden said as he approached them. Beth narrowed her eyes slightly when she noticed his eyes flicker over to her as he took her in. Aaron’s assessment of him being an asshat sure seemed right so far. 

“Aiden,” Aaron nodded at him. “Has everything been okay here?”

“Calm as always,” Aiden answered. “Had a run-in with a couple of rotters during a run, but we all made it back all right.”

“Good to hear,” Aaron said. “This is Daryl and Beth. I met them a couple of miles back. Brought them here so they can check the place out and have a talk with Deanna.”

“Mom has been in her office all morning,” Aiden told him. “I’ll take you to her as soon as you hand over your weapons.” He looked pointedly at the gun Beth was holding and then turned his attention on Daryl’s crossbow. “All firearms must be handed over,” he said. “That’s one of our main rules here when it comes to new people.”

Beth glanced in Daryl’s direction. He was still watching Aiden and Nicholas with a suspicious glare. She had known that this wasn’t going to be easy; not for her and certainly not for Daryl. They had been on their own for so long and before that, they had only had their family. The only people they had come across before they had headed out on the road had been bad people. Beth was still haunted by bad dreams about John and his group who had attacked them on the farm. The encounter had been what had finally made her realize her deep feelings for Daryl, but back then, he had denied her out of fear. Shortly after that though, they had found their way to one another and after deciding on being together, they were never separated again. She was tired of the small arguments that they had been having and she couldn’t help but feel grateful over the fact that Aaron had somehow managed to push them together again. When he had shown up, Beth had already told Daryl that she wanted to stop fighting, but the stranger’s presence had made them reconnect as a unit again. She knew very well that her and Daryl would be uncomfortable in Alexandria at first, but if they were going to make things work for their family, they would need to fit in.

“Okay,” Beth nodded at Aiden. She looked at Daryl and he gave her a look. He was searching her face like he always did. He didn’t even look away from her as he spoke.

“The crossbow stays with me,” he told Aiden.

“As long as you don’t shoot someone with it and unload it, that should be fine,” Aiden said.

“Mhm…” Daryl hummed, lowering the bow and removing the bolt that he had been keeping secured there. “Y’all gonna let us in or are we gonna stay out here all day long?”

“Right,” Aaron cleared his throat. He reached out to Beth and she placed her gun in his hand.

“I’m keeping my knife,” she told him and he nodded.

“Understandable,” he said. “It’s just guns that we don’t like people having inside the walls. There are reasons for it too, but you’ll see that you won’t be needing weapons here.”

“Weapons are always needed,” Daryl muttered, but if Aaron or anyone else had heard him, they seemed to ignore his comment.

“Follow me, my lady,” Aiden said, lowering his head in a half-bow toward Beth. She frowned, not knowing whether he was mocking her or something else.

“I’m not a lady,” she glared at him. “At least not  _ yours. _ ” Her thoughts traveled to Morgan and her heart suddenly clenched painfully in her chest. She missed him, so much and despite knowing that they had a job to do, she could hardly wait until the moment they would be reunited again. Although, she hoped that they were all doing okay back at the farm, since they hadn’t been able to keep in contact with them through their radios.

She heard Daryl snort behind her and she knew that he must have been amused by her comment. Aiden looked a bit taken aback while Aaron seemed pleased. Nicholas, who had remained quiet, actually laughed, but Beth kept her face perfectly impassive as she followed them through the gates.

-§-

Daryl followed after Beth and the smug looking bastards. He had loved the way that Beth had handled the situation because he knew that she had put Aiden in his place instantly. A part of him couldn’t wait to get her alone and talk to her about everything that was going on, but he knew that he needed to stay focused. Aiden, Nicholas and Aaron were taking them to meet with the woman in charge. Aaron hung back a bit with him and told him that he’d be talking to Deanna first. He would explain the situation to the woman and after that, she would probably want to talk to Beth and Daryl separately.

“It will be like an interview for a new job,” Aaron explained.

Daryl clenched his jaw, “We ain’t gonna be separated. Ya best tell her that.”

“Okay,” Aaron said. “I’m going to vouch for you guys, so I really hope that I’m right about you.”

Daryl nodded at him and fought the urge to reassure the man that they weren’t going to stab him in the back if he really had put his faith in them. There was something about Aaron that made it easy to trust him, but that only made him even more dangerous. They couldn’t let their guard down.

They were taken to a big house. Daryl took in the surroundings, silently noting all the houses in his mind. It was a big community, that was for sure. As they walked through the streets, children who had previously been playing stopped to look at them curiously. Some whispered, clearly intrigued by the strangers coming in, but Daryl tried to pay them no mind.

Once inside, they were instructed to wait in the hallway. Aaron was inside Deanna’s office for a good twenty minutes before he exited. He told them that they were welcome to go in and that he would wait for them outside. Daryl looked at Beth who thanked Aaron and then reached out for his hand. He let her take it, wanting to feel connected to her in some way. They were going into that office as a united front and even though Deanna would be asking them questions, they were going to get their answers as well.

As they stepped into the office, Daryl instantly put his focus on the older woman who was sitting behind the desk in the middle of the room. She looked up at them, removing a pair of reading glasses as she stood up, offering them a smile. 

“Beth and Daryl,” Deanna said. “My name is Deanna Monroe.”

Daryl tightened his grip on Beth’s hand, feeling as if he had been taken to the principal’s office all of the sudden. He wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to say to her, but he knew how important it was to find out more about the Safe Zone.

“Welcome,” Deanna said, nodding at them again. She didn’t look awkward at all. In fact, she looked as if she was in her own element. It was clear that she was a person with authority in the community. “If you would please follow me, we can step over to the couch. It’s far more comfortable,” she told them.

“Yes, please,” Beth said politely, but Daryl could hear the reservation in her tone. It was barely there, but he was so in tune with her now that he just  _ knew.  _

“Follow me,” Deanna smiled at Beth. She led them to the couch on the far side of the room. In the middle of the table, there were a couple of cups and containers as well as a teapot. “Would either of you like some tea?”

Daryl grimaced as if she had just offered him a cup of poison. He shook his head quietly, his fingers tightening around Beth’s.

“No thank you,” Beth said, still keeping her tone polite.

“In any case, please sit down,” Deanna said, sitting down in one of the armchairs. She motioned to the couch so that the two of them could sit down next to one another. Beth took her seat and Daryl followed, not taking his eyes off of Deanna as she prepared a cup of tea for herself. The smell of chamomile filled the room and Daryl tried his best to ignore it. He had never liked tea, but after not seeing it in years, the aroma was inviting. He looked around the room before once more settling his eyes on Deanna.

She was a small woman, looking professional and what some might have considered proper before the Turn. They had had a good thing going back at the farm, but even then, most of them worked so hard around the house that they dirtied up pretty quickly. Deanna looked as if she hadn’t spent a single day out in the wild since the Outbreak had happened and Daryl didn’t feel entirely comfortable with it.

“We don’t usually do interviews like this,” Deanna said, glancing over at them to observe them for a moment.

“So we’ve been told,” Beth nodded and Daryl couldn’t help but notice how terse she sounded all of the sudden. He wondered if Beth too had picked up on the look that the other woman had given them. It had only been there for a split second, but disappeared quickly behind a facade of politeness.

“I’ll have you know that if it wasn’t for me trusting Aaron’s judgment, I would never have agreed to it,” Deanna stated, taking a sip of her tea. “Now, would you two mind if we record this conversation? It’s protocol because we like having something to look back at when we evaluate later on.”

“Who’s ‘we’ an’ what are y’all gonna be evaluatin’?” Daryl wondered, wanting to get straight to the point.

Deanna looked at him and her lips twitched. “Well, in this community, everyone pulls their weight one way or another. We make things work by giving everyone a job. A social structure is important to have in every functioning community. Alexandria is no different,” Deanna explained.

“So this will be like a job interview then?” Beth asked.

“In a way, yes,” Deanna said. “It will help me and my husband, Reg, decide on where you’ll be fit to work, based on your history.” She gave Daryl a pointed look, as if trying to tell him that she had answered his question too regarding who she was referring to. “So, do you mind if I record?” she asked again, holding up a small remote as she pointed at a camera that had been placed on a stand behind her, pointing at the couch.

“Go ahead,” Daryl muttered. “We ain’t gonna stop ya.”

Deanna smiled, pressing a button and Daryl watched as the camera began blinking red. “Now, Daryl and Beth. Any last name I should put to your names?” she asked.

“Dixon and Greene,” Daryl replied. “Daryl Dixon and Beth Greene.”

“Not related?” Deanna wondered, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Related in every way but blood,” Beth said, giving Daryl another reassuring squeeze with her hand that was still clutching his. “We’re family.”

“I see,” Deanna said. “Did you know one another before the Outbreak?”

“No,” Daryl responded. He hated being asked questions like this but he had told himself time and time and again that he was going to play along.

“Remarkable,” she noted. “You seem awfully close.”

“Have ya ever been out there?” Daryl asked, narrowing his eyes at her.

“Me, my husband and out two sons came to this place shortly after the first reports of the Outbreak came out,” she shared. “This was a planned community with it’s own solar grid, cisterns, eco-based sewage filtration.”

“Sounds too good to be true,” Beth pointed out. “It looks picture perfect, the way you’re making it out to be.”

“It is what you see,” Deanna assured. “I was a congressperson in Ohio, 15th district. My family and I were on our way back to Ohio when the army stopped us on a back road and directed us here.”

“The army?” Daryl watched her carefully, trying to see if she was lying or exaggerating anything. She was a politician, after all. Or she had been, before.

“They were supposed to come later,” Deanna told him, a dark look briefly crossing her face. “They didn’t.” Silence filled the room for a moment while Deanna reached for her tea and took another sip. She turned back to Daryl and watched him for a moment. It was clear that she was already evaluating him. “What did you do before the Outbreak?” Deanna questioned.

Daryl’s stomach felt as if someone had forced him to eat a giant stone, but he tried to stay neutral. “Why’s it matter?”

“Oh, it matters,” Deanna said.

“Daryl’s good with his hands,” Beth said before he had a chance to speak again. “He’s good at fixing things, I mean.” There was a slight blush to her cheeks and for a brief moment, his mind went back to all the times he had used his hands on her.

He swallowed thickly, trying to force the memories away because this was not the time to start sporting a hard-on.

“Like a mechanic or a carpenter?”

Daryl shook his head at Deanna’s question. He wasn’t going to hide who he had been. The truth always had a way of coming out and he knew that if they were going to make Alexandria work for them, he would need to show Deanna just who he was.

“Nah, I ain’t ever had no fancy degree or nothin’,” he told her. “Picked up things easily. Learned along the way. Did an odd job every now or then just to keep food on the table.”

“Did you have a family? A wife? Children?”

“No,” he said, clenching his jaw. “It was just me an’ my brother. He’s dead, but I got family now. Beth’s my family.”

“And the others of your group,” Deanna added. “The ones that you left behind somewhere. Aaron wasn’t able to give me any information on them, but from what I’ve gathered, you want to see if Alexandria would be a sustainable place for all of you. Am I correct?”

“My sister is pregnant,” Beth said. “We’ve had a good place for a long time, but it’s not going to work out much longer. There’s not much left in the woods to hunt among other things.”

“Hunt? You hunt?”

“We both do, but Daryl is the one who taught me,” Beth said, a genuine smile showing up on her face as she turned to look at him. He glanced at her and his own lips twitched. He wasn’t able to help it; she’d always have that effect on him.

The conversation continued for a while. Daryl gave enough answers but Beth gave more. They told Deanna what they wanted and the fact that they weren’t completely comfortable with sharing everything about their family. The main facts, such as numbers of people and how many women, men and children were with them had to be disclosed. At the end of the interview, Deanna was looking more and more pleased with them, which actually surprised Daryl. He wasn’t exactly sure what the woman would gain in having them in the Safe Zone, but if she was willing to give them a house to stay in for the time being, he would be happy enough.

“Well then,” Deanna said, clasping her hands together. She pushed off the couch and walked over to the camera, turning it off. “I believe I have everything I need for now. Reginald and I will look at the footage, but from what I can see so far, Aaron was right about the two of you.”

“Does that mean that our terms will be met?” Beth asked.

“Yes,” Deanna nodded. “You and Daryl will be able to stay here for as long as you want until you decide that it’s safe for your family. After that, you’re free to leave and bring your people back.”

“Really? Jus’ like that?” Daryl frowned.

“Yes, Mr. Dixon. Just like that,” Deanna said. “I think you’ll be a great fit if you just give yourself some time to adjust. I understand that it will be different here than anywhere else you’ve stayed before, but I can promise you that you won’t regret it.”

“Deanna,” Beth said, “we’ve been through a lot and so has our family. We understand that it’ll take time, but we need to know that you’re really goin’ to keep your word.”

“I swear on my life,” Deanna told her.

“What’s in it for you then?” Daryl asked her.

Deanna looked away for a moment, crossing her arms over her chest. “To be honest with you, I have been thinking for a good while to step down as a leader,” she admitted. “Unfortunately, the people inside the community are not strong enough to be put in such a position. I need strong people to help me.”

“Ya wanna take in people from the outside? People ya don’t even know?” Daryl’s frown deepened.

“I know how it sounds,” Deanna said. “I’m not saying that I will be giving away the control of Alexandria to anyone, just that it would be a good thing to have people from the outside,  _ inside.  _ Who’s to say that you or Beth won’t be the ones in charge of the community in two years? There’s no way of telling, but what I do know is that I need capable people. I need people who know what’s out there and who will be willing to defend what is theirs.” A look of suspicion must have crossed his face because Deanna smiled again, “It’s a figure of speech, Mr. Dixon.”

Daryl offered her nothing more than a curt nod. It all still seemed too good to be true, but for now, he would roll with it.

Deanna told them that she had already assigned them one of the smaller houses since it was only the two of them. Aaron was going to show them there and before they left, Deanna once again expressed how glad she was that they had come to Alexandria. Daryl followed Beth’s example and thanked the older woman for her kindness in the politest tone he could muster, but even that one was gruff. It didn’t seem to matter much though, because Deanna still smiled at him and nodded appreciatively.

Aaron looked a bit nervous when he first saw them after they walked back out into the hallway. It was apparent that he hadn’t been entirely sure about how Deanna was going to receive them, but as soon as Beth told him that they had been permitted to stay, a smile spread across his lips. He held up a pair of keys and told them to follow him once more and Daryl made no noise as they walked through the streets. His crossbow was still draped over his back, but from what he had been able to see so far of the community, there didn’t seem to be much of a threat there. Sure, the Alexandrians had numbers, but none of the people that Daryl had seen and met so far screamed ‘fighter’, which was why he could understand Deanna’s concerns for the community. If they were going to last and make things work, they would need strong people who knew how to fight and protect the weaker ones inside the Zone. Not only that, but bringing in people like Beth and himself would mean that they could train the ones that who were strong enough to fight, but had never had the opportunity to. Daryl knew that it would take time to get used to everything in Alexandria. Having a bigger community to protect made him think about the prison and all the things that had occurred there. He didn’t want to get attached to new faces, but it was inevitable. Sooner or later, depending on whether they stayed or not, he would begin to take responsibility for the people of Alexandria. If and when that time came, he knew that he would do all that he could to not lose anyone, although, Beth and his family, would always be his first priority.

-§-

Beth walked up the steps to the house that Aaron had led them to. It wasn’t at all as small as Deanna had made it out to be. Sure, there were bigger houses inside the Safe Zone that she had seen, but the house in front of her could surely fit a whole family and not just two people. Her stomach felt heavy as she walked up the steps to the porch, thinking about her sister and the others that they had left behind. The more time she spent inside the safety of the big wall, the more she wondered if they were still all right.

The keys that Aaron had given her were a weight in her hand. Daryl was following behind her and Aaron had told her that someone would come by in a bit with some supplies. He had also told her that he and his partner Eric lived two houses down from them. Strangely enough, it made Beth feel more comfortable to know that there was someone close by who she knew wasn’t a bad person. She had yet to meet Eric, but if he was anything like Aaron, she knew that she was going to like him as well.

She turned the key and let the door swing open. Daryl’s hand came to rest on her shoulder and she glanced at him, but his eyes were set straight ahead. He pulled her back slightly and Beth felt too tired to object as he walked inside and made a quick sweep of the place. She waited patiently until she heard his signal whistle, which told her that it was safe.

It was a two-story house, with a big living room that was connected to the kitchen. There was a fireplace in the corner that made Beth think about the cabin back home; the place where she and Daryl had first gotten together. In the kitchen, she turned on the sink, looking up at Daryl when she realized that they had running water as well as electricity. So far, what Deanna had told them had been true. She continued walking through the house, as if in trance, taking it all in. There was one small bedroom downstairs as well as a bathroom. Upstairs, there was one big bedroom which Beth assumed was the master bedroom as well as a separate office room. The bathroom upstairs was bigger than the one downstairs and contained a bathtub which could be used as a shower as well. Beth almost sighed to herself as she imagined soaking herself in hot water, but instantly, the guilt crept back into her as she thought of her family.

She walked back into the master bedroom and opened the closet, surprised to see that there were actual clothes there. Reaching inside, she grabbed one of the sweaters and held it up to inspect before holding it to her nose and inhaling deeply. It had been washed recently, but she could tell that it had belonged to someone once. It looked familiar and she closed her eyes for a moment, sorting through the memories that had returned to her a while back. There were still blind spots, things that she wasn’t sure of and things that she didn’t know if she would ever get back.

Feeling eyes on her, she turned around and faced Daryl, who looked uncertain. He was dirty, far more than she was. She had gotten used to it, but now that they had running water and were supposed to try to make this thing work in Alexandria, she knew that they would need to get clean too.

“I think my mom had one of these,” she told him, voicing her earlier thoughts.

Daryl met her eyes and she knew that he could sense the wave of sadness that rolled through her. Slowly, he walked up to her and reached up to take the sweater from her. He looked at the colors and his lips twitched, “‘S pretty colorful.” Beth couldn’t help but let out a small laugh, leaning into him so that she could press her forehead against his chest. He rested his chin on the top of her head, his hand coming to rest on her hip. “We should clean up,” he said after a moment. “Some woman was just here an’ gave us a bunch of shit. Soap, shampoo… Fresh towels.”

“I didn’t hear anyone,” Beth said.

“I was checkin’ the back when she came knockin’. Said her name was Jessie an’ offered me a haircut. Told her I didn’t need one,” he muttered.

Beth laughed again, shaking her head at him. She knew he was right though. They didn’t know anyone inside the Safe Zone properly yet, so it would be wise not to let anyone get too close with a pair of scissors during their first day there.

“She say anythin’ else?” Beth asked.

“Jus’ that Aaron was gonna help me get some of our stuff into the house,” he replied. He pulled back a bit and looked at her, “Ya can have a shower first, if ya wanna?”

Beth paused for a brief second, her fingers finding purchase in Daryl’s belt loops. “Was thinkin’, you should join me,” she said, pulling slightly so that they were more firmly pressed against one another.

“Ya really think this is the time?” he asked, but she didn’t fail to notice the way that his eyes darkened and he leaned into her a bit.

She thumbed the skin of his stomach, just above his jeans for a moment before putting both her hands flat against his abdomen. “I think now is as good a time as any,” she admitted. “We’re safe.”

He looked as if he wanted to say something to counter her, but Beth knew that there was nothing to be said. Instead, she let her hands roam to his back for a moment, feeling his hot skin beneath her palms as she pushed up on her toes and pressed her lips to his.

At first, he didn’t do anything but tighten his grip on her hip and press his lips back against hers. She moved her hands slowly over his back, tracing the scars that she had memorized as he opened his mouth, allowing her to deepen the kiss. Her insides fluttered as soon as his tongue met hers; she had missed him, so much. Being able to be intimate with him without having to rush anything and just take their time with one another… It made her feel more than she would ever be able to express. She brought her hands back to his front, pushing off his leather vest as she began walking him backwards to the door that connected the bedroom to the bathroom. Daryl let out a groan against her lips as he reached for her own jacket, unzipping it and removing it from her body. Beth pulled away from him for just a moment, grabbing her own shirt by the hem and lifting it off of herself. Daryl quickly did the same to his and started on his belt. Beth kicked off her boots and struggled with her pants for a moment. She heard Daryl chuckle and looked up at him, her cheeks crimson as he watched her. He was down to his wifebeater and boxers already and she wanted to punch him for looking so smug just because he was faster at undressing than her.

“Your pants aren’t as tight as mine,” Beth glared.

He only chuckled again, reaching inside the shower. Turning on the water, he pulled off his wifebeater and reached over to the small basket of things which Beth realized he must have brought in there while she had been in a daze. He pulled out a bottle of shampoo and an unopened box of condoms. Beth blushed when she realized that someone must have instructed the woman Jessie to bring them those. They hadn’t been explicitly clear to Deanna regarding the nature of their relationship, but Beth was sure the woman had understood enough.

Beth shook her head, not wanting to think about Deanna or Aaron or anyone else. All she wanted was Daryl and he was right in front of her, waiting for her. Finally, she got her jeans and socks off and instantly, she moved closer to Daryl.With just her bra and underwear she smiled at him as she stepped past him, pulling her hair tie from her hair as she walked straight into the shower, releasing her hair as she went. They would need to change out of their dirty clothes anyway and wash them, so she wasn’t bothered by the fact that she got soaked through the moment she walked under the spray of water.

She heard him open the box of condoms, but she turned her back to him as she stepped into the shower after her. He held the square foil pack in his hand, putting it on the small shelf inside the shower as well as the bottle of shampoo and the soap. She watched him over her shoulder as she reached up to unhook her bra, but his hands found hers and pushed them away lightly. His rough hands moved over her shoulder blades, pressing gently and Beth’s head dropped back as she released a low moan. His touch set her ablaze and his heat along with the warmth of the water cascading down on her made her feel relaxed and wound tight all at the same time. Daryl’s hand brushed away her hair as he leaned closer to her, pressing his lips to the exposed side of her neck. She felt him unhook her bra and then slowly trail his fingers up her arms to her straps. Slowly, he pulled them down, releasing her breasts as she turned her head to him so that he could press his lips to hers. Her hands found his and she guided them up to her chest before she reached behind herself, grabbing the elastic band of his boxers, pulling on them. His arousal pressed hard against her lower back as his hips jerked forward. The last time they had been together had been in the car after they had both almost lost their lives. Back then, it had been all about making sure they were still alive. Now, it was about  _ living,  _ together.

She managed to push his wet boxers off of his hips and as he stepped out of them, she turned in his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck. He reached down and tugged off her panties. Before she could step out of them though, he gently pushed her backwards, wrapping his hands underneath her thighs. Daryl lifted her up and Beth found her back being pressed against the cold tiles of the shower wall. She hissed, but he silenced her sounds by kissing her, deeper than before, his tongue moving languidly against her own. He was using his own body to keep her up and Beth sighed against him as she felt him pressing against her. She could feel heat low in her belly and she smiled against him when she remembered that he was yet to touch her where she most wanted him to. The way he affected her amazed her sometimes.

“Daryl,” she breathed against his lips, pulling away so that she look at him. She grinned, reaching up to push back his hair that had plastered against his forehead. He shook his head and leaned back a bit so that the water from the showerhead could soak him fully. “I’ll wash your hair soon, but first…” Beth trailed off. Daryl slowly loosened his grip on her and her feet once again met the bottom of the tub. He stepped back and she drew her lower lip between her teeth as she watched him observe her. His gaze felt like fire licking her skin; making her even hotter than before. He walked over to the shelf and grabbed the foil pack, fumbling to get it open. She wanted to tell him to leave it because she needed him too much and it was taking too much time, but they had already been reckless once and they couldn’t risk anything now. Maybe some day.

Daryl finally managed to open the condom package and rolled on the rubber over his hard length. He let out a sound that once again almost made Beth laugh, because he sounded so relieved and she couldn’t remember a time when she had last heard him sound like that. His predatory look stopped her mid-laugh though and he quickly closed the distance between them again, kissing her hard and needy.

“Ya need more, or…?” he whispered against her and Beth was quick to shake her head.

“I just need you,” she told him. He nodded and kissed her lightly again before lifting her once more. Beth wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into the side of his neck as he lined himself up. A low moan escaped her lips when he began pressing into her, one glorious inch at a time. By the time that he was fully buried inside of her, she felt ready to burst. It had been too long since she had felt this connected with him. He panted heavily against her ear, whispering questions to her about whether she was okay or not. She wanted to cry, feeling ready to combust from the raw emotion she was feeling.

“I love you,” Beth said. She needed to say it because she had never felt it more deeply than she did now. “I love you so much.”

“Love you too,” Daryl returned, pulling out of her painfully slow before entering her again with a quick, hard stroke. Beth cried out, her nails digging into his back and his hair as she held him tightly. There was hardly any room to move because she had her legs wrapped tightly around his waist, wanting him as close as possible, but somehow, they were making it work. Feeling his thick length slide in and out of her, the hotness in her core kept building. She felt as if she was on fire and she closed her eyes, taking in the sound of their wet skin slapping together, the water hitting the shower floor and Daryl’s low groans by her ear.

His hands found her ass and she gasped as he gripped her tightly and pushed into her harder and faster than before. He was close, she could feel it. She was soaking wet, both from the shower and from Daryl’s ministrations. Her toes curled as he hit that one spot deep inside of her and she threw her head back and let out a deep moan. Daryl pressed his lips against her throat, his movements quick as he pounded into her, chasing his own release. His thrusts became harder until she felt him reach his climax inside of her. He kept thrusting, but his movements were shallow and more of a way to draw out their pleasure than anything else. Beth tightened her grip around him and pressed her forehead to his shoulder. Daryl mirrored her as he rested his against her bare chest, his hips still pressed tightly against hers as he stopped moving. They panted and breathed one another in for a moment and when Daryl softened inside of her, Beth kept holding him tightly against her, not wanting to let go just yet. And Daryl, he didn’t seem to mind at all.

-§-

Daryl observed Beth quietly as she pulled on one of the only clean shirt he had left. Aaron had dropped by shortly after they had finished with their shower and offered to accompany Daryl to their car to get whatever it was that they needed there. Daryl was only glad that the man hadn’t come by sooner, because he and Beth had been too preoccupied with one another in the shower to have heard anyone knocking.

He had brought back their two bigger packs, but left all the supplies they had gathered along the way in the truck. Whenever they decided on heading back to their family, the supplies would be safely locked in there. Aaron had assured him that no one would be going near their truck.

Beth had put on his shirt as soon as she had seen that Aaron had brought clean clothes with him for the two of them. Daryl knew that he was exhausted, but he wasn’t sure whether he would be able to get any sleep tonight. Still, the only thing he hoped now was that Beth would rest up. Before they had had sex, he had found her staring at a sweater and he couldn’t help but feel for her when she had shared that the clothing item had brought back memories of her mother. He had been able to feel her sadness and he had wanted nothing more than to comfort her. She had taken the reigns though and they had ended up in the shower together. Daryl had no regrets. He couldn’t have any because he realized that he had needed to feel her close as much as she had needed him. He had pulled on a pair of sweatpants that Aaron had brough him and a cotton t-shirt. His crossbow was on the side-table next to the bed, close enough to reach if anyone broke in or tried to kill them while they slept. He would be damned if he let his guard down tonight, but he wasn’t going to say anything to Beth about it. Sure, Aaron and Deanna had seemed like people who could be trusted, but he hadn’t liked the way that Aiden had looked at Beth and he didn’t even know anyone else in the Zone. It wasn’t worth the risk to relax too soon.

Beth pulled back the soft comforter and laid down under it finally. Daryl sighed to himself and stood up so that he could pull back the cover on his own side and slip into the bed next to her. He laid on his side and she rested on her back. Leaning down, he kissed her softly.

“It feels too good to be true,” Beth said when they pulled apart, voicing his thoughts, He nodded but kissed her again before she turned to lay on her side. He pulled her closer, wrapping his arm around her. His hand found the skin of her stomach, feeling her warmth as he closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her clean hair which she had put up in a braid for the night. Her shirt had slipped down her shoulder, exposing her skin and he couldn’t help but kiss her shoulder, trying to reassure her.

“We’ll be good,” he said, not fully knowing whether it was for his own comfort or hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew! So, what did you guys think? I always get so nervous about posting smut, but I hope that it was okay enough. I have to say one more thing though. I'll be going on vacation on June 27 and I'll be gone until July 6. That means that I won't be able to do any actual writing until I get back. Even then, I'll be working every day of July, but I'll try my best to write every night and morning until I finish this story and Endurance as well. My goal right now is to post another chapter of Endurance before I leave on vacation, so any word of encouragement is highly appreciated. I love you guys. Thank you so much for all of your support! Until next time! :) xx
> 
> Blink was a part of the Bethyl Book Club this year in UltimateBethylFiclist's forum. The re-read has already been done, but you can still go into the discussion and post your thoughts as well as ask any questions regarding the fic! Check it out if you have time. There are a bunch of great fics being discussed there! ;) Otherwise, you can always PM me on my tumblr (author123456) or contact me on my twitter (Sugar_Pepper666) to ask questions or keep up with what I'm doing! :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Daryl and Beth get settled in the Safe Zone. However, as they start checking whether it really is as secure as everyone is making it out to be, they see some problems that will need fixing before they bring their family there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! An update, after like 500 years... Well, I hope some of you are still interested in reading this story! I lost my muse for a while after the Summer since I had really been away from writing due to work. Either way, I really hope you guys will enjoy this and hopefully, I'll be able to write the final couple of chapters a bit faster since they won't be all too long! This story will have 14 chapters in total and then an epilogue.
> 
> Thank you so much for the support so far! Enjoy! ;)

#  **A Sharp Intake Of Breath (And A Memory Forgotten)**

##  **Chapter 10**

 

“Fuck, Beth,” Daryl groaned, covering his eyes with his arm, squeezing his eyes shut tightly. “You’re drivin’ me fuckin’ crazy, woman.”

“Mhm…” Beth hummed, sucking gently on the head of his cock, tongue darting out to collect the drop of pre-cum which had gathered on his tip.

Daryl swore again as she bobbed her head down, taking him fully into her mouth and his other hand found purchase in her hair. He didn’t like pulling on her or pushing her down on his dick, but he knew that she loved it when he followed her movements. It made her feel like he was guiding her, which was something that he was completely fine with.

“If ya don’t stop, I’m gonna come,” he said, his voice a hoarse whisper.

Beth licked the underside of him again, trailing kisses there and soon he could feel her lips stretching around his dick into a smile again. She pulled back for only a moment, “Then come,” before once again taking him deep into her mouth. He felt her throat relax and he stared at her as she buried her nose in the dark hair at the base of him.

Daryl swallowed, closing his eyes again, allowing himself to feel the sensation of Beth’s hot mouth wrapped around him. As she picked up her speed, sucking hard and letting her own saliva make the short strokes she was making with her hand glide more effortlessly, Daryl’s breath hitched. The heat pulsated through him and he forced himself to open his eyes and stare into Beth’s baby blues as she pulled back slightly, only keeping the tip of him inside her mouth as she pumped him hard. He exploded in her mouth, grunting as his hips jerked up and his cock twitched inside of her heat. She kept pumping and the pleasurable pain almost became too much for him but he kept his half-closed eyes on her face as she swallowed every drop he was giving her. Finally, when the spasming slowed and all he could feel was the pleasing flutters low in his belly and his muscles relaxing, Beth pulled away, swallowing once more. A drop of cum rolled down her chin and she reached up, wiping at it with her finger before inserting it in her mouth. She hummed and Daryl breathed hard, letting go of her hair to settle his hand on her shoulder, tugging her upwards.

“Give me a second,” he said, catching his breath, “then you’ll get yours.”

Beth grinned at him and lowered her lips to his, kissing him softly. He could taste himself on her lips but he was used to it by now. She was hovering over him, holding herself up with one of her hands on the bed and the other on the headboard. As they kissed, his hands explored her body which he knew like the back of his own hand. His fingers moved over her scars and her ribs, down to her waist and finally down to her ass, squeezing gently. Beth giggled against his lips and he couldn’t help but smirk at her.

“Get up there, girl,” he said, moving to lower himself down slightly on the bed. Beth bit her lip, blue irises turning a shade darker, her pupils blown wide. He knew that she loved it when they did this.

Keeping both her hands on the headboard, Beth dragged herself over his body, making sure that her wet cunt dragged over his skin. He could feel the wetness that she left behind and he could feel the anticipation building up inside of him. Beth wasn’t the only one who enjoyed this particular activity. She settled over, him hovering just above his face and she looked down at him, meeting his hot gaze. He grinned again before bringing his hands back to her ass, holding on tight as he pulled her closer.

A strangled moan escaped Beth’s lips as he lapped at her; finding and circling her clit with his tongue. He pushed and pulled, making her move with him, giving her no other choice than to grind down against his mouth. Thrusting his tongue in and out of her, he made her gasp; he could imagine her white knuckles as she held onto the headboard too tightly.

“Oh, Daryl,” she moaned. “Fuck…”

He kept one of his hands on her ass but moved his other, sliding a thick finger between her wet folds. Pumping in and out of her to the rhythm she had set, he knew that it would be enough for her. It had been way too long since they had just been able to enjoy one another without being rushed or them being high on their emotions. This was all about the two of them pleasuring one another because they finally had a chance to do so.

Daryl couldn’t help but think about how Beth had woken him up merely an hour ago. It was still dark outside and from the clock on the wall, he could tell that it was way too early for anyone to be stepping out of their houses. What had started as a conversation about a silly dream that had woken her hand ended with Beth’s fingers drawing patterns over his stomach before traveling lower. Somehow, they had ended up kissing and then their clothes had started coming off and when Beth’s mouth ended up on his dick, Daryl had been done with thinking.

He changed the angle of his finger slightly, pulling it out completely before pushing two in and Beth cried out. His tongue flattened out over her and he pressed, making her grind against him again and again as the wave of hotness rolled through her body. He knew that she’d have red marks all over her thighs from his beard but he knew that a part of her loved the itch because it reminded her of where his mouth had been.

Beth looked down at him, her breath coming out hard as she moved up and away from him. He chased after her by lifting his head and gave her one last lick before grinning at her. She leaned her sweaty forehead against her arm and he pulled his fingers out of her a bit before pushing in gently again. He loved feeling her pulsing around his digits. Finally, he removed them completely, reaching up to wipe at his chin that was soaked with her and Beth settled on his chest, leg on either side of him. He cleaned his fingers off by sucking them into his mouth and the look she gave him made it obvious that she’d be willing to go another round. They needed sleep though because they had agreed that they would be going out early in the morning.

He stroked her back as she moved down his body to settle her head on his chest, kissing the small tattoo that he had gotten just for her. Tangling his fingers in her hair he fused their lips together, allowing her to taste herself against him and letting their juices mix.

“Love ya,” he mumbled against her lips.

“Love you,” Beth responded, nuzzling his cheek.

“Sleep,” he said, closing his eyes as he felt her settle against him again.

And so they did.

-§-

They had decided to play along, getting dressed in what could only be considered ‘proper’ and ‘clean’ clothing as they were guided around the Safe Zone. They had to interact with people in order to figure out whether the place really was as safe as Deanna had made it out to be, but Daryl hated the shirt that Beth had thrown at him once they gotten out of bed. Aaron and Eric had invited them over for breakfast at their place and reluctantly, Daryl had agreed to it because after all, that was what they had to do. After spending an hour and a half with the two men, Daryl found that they weren’t actually that bad to be around. In fact, he enjoyed their company way more than he liked anyone else's in the Zone, but they had to get on with things.

Aaron had plenty of questions for Daryl regarding motorcycles after he had learned that Daryl had always had a thing for them. He showed him a bike that he had found on a run along with a bunch of tools and spare parts, asking whether Daryl could help him repair it. Daryl wasn’t really sure how long he would be staying in the Zone with Beth, but if they decided to come back there with the rest of their family, he agreed to help him.

Eric shared how some of the people who had seen him and Beth come into the Safe Zone had been intimidated by them when they had first come in. It was the first time they had taken in new people in a good while and Daryl frowned as he listened to the man sharing stories about past failures and threats. From what he could tell, there were definitely some things he needed to check up on before he and Beth agreed to bring their people here.

-§-

The woman Daryl had mentioned the day before, Jessie, came knocking at Aaron and Eric’s house while they were still there. She offered to show Beth around, telling her that she could use a friend. Beth wasn’t sure at first but remembered how she had told Daryl that he needed to suck it up and try with these people, so she knew that she had to do the same.

Beth took Daryl’s hand before leaving and squeezed it tight, silently telling him that she would be fine. She knew that if they had been alone, he would most likely have pulled her in for a kiss. They didn’t know these people though and she understood that Daryl didn’t want to show too much of his vulnerable side in front of them.

Jessie walked through the street, introducing Beth to some people there. The other blonde went on to tell her about their numbers and routines, something which Beth mentally took a note of.

“Do you have a family?” Beth asked Jessie, making the woman pause.

“I have two sons,” Jessie replied. “Ron and Sam.”

“No partner…?” Beth wondered, trailing off when a look flashed across Jessie’s face.

“I guess you could say that I’m pretty much divorced,” she said. “Pete is one of our doctors. I moved out with our boys because… Well, let’s just say that he can’t really handle what the world has become.”

Jessie brushed her hair back from her face, eyes downcast. Beth remembered seeing that look before. It had been on Carol’s face a few times whenever she remembered something from her past.

“He was violent,” Beth stated, her voice carefully neutral. Jessie looked up at her with wide eyes, mouth falling open and confusion settling on her face. She started to say something but closed her mouth, only nodding instead. “They still let him stay here?” Beth questioned, anger evident in her tone as she frowned.

“They couldn’t throw him out because at the time he was our only surgeon,” Jessie explained. “He had a drinking problem, but these past few months he’s been clean. It was one of the conditions he had to agree to when Deanna and Reginald found out that he was beating me and my boys.”

Beth gritted her teeth, trying to swallow down the rage inside of her. “Where does he live now?” she asked.

“He still lives in our old house. He’s not allowed to speak to me unless I speak to him first,” Jessie said. “He gets to see the kids once a week but otherwise he’s not allowed to approach them.”

“He agreed to all of that too?” Beth frowned. From what she knew, problematic people were hardly reasonable in most cases.

“It’s been months since we moved to the other side of Alexandria,” Jessie said. “He’s gotten better, but he’s still an ass and I certainly won’t be getting back together with him, no matter how much he changes. He knows that, which is why he wants to try and have a relationship with his sons.”

Beth wanted to ask whether he deserved that, but she didn’t. She had her opinions, although, it seemed like Jessie had come to terms with what had happened between her and her husband. The separation seemed to be working for them and from what she understood, Deanna and her husband regularly checked in on the surgeon.

“How is your guard schedule?” Beth wondered instead, clearing her throat.

“You mean at the gate?” Jessie questioned, seeming grateful for the change of conversation.

“No, I mean around the wall,” Beth said.

“Hm… Some of us do perimeter checks once every few days,” Jessie told her. “We check so that there aren’t any faults in the wall that could bring it down.”

Beth found herself frowning again. “So you’re telling me that you don’t have an actual guard schedule for people to be on lookout for threats?”

“Eh, no,” Jessie said sheepishly. “I know it’s been mentioned a couple of times that it’d be good to have, but most of us don’t know how to use a gun. We’ve been protected by the wall since the very beginning.”

Once more, Beth silently took note. There were definitely faults in their safety-protocol, but she was sure that if she talked to Deanna, the woman would understand. After all, her goal with bringing them into the Zone was to make the place safer.

-§-

“Man, this is boring,” Aiden complained. “Not a single dead one has passed through here these last couple of days. The bullets are going to glue together in my gun if I don’t get to use them soon.”

Daryl listened to the younger man as he spoke to his brother. Aaron had told him more about Aiden and Spencer as they had walked through the Zone. According to him, Aiden was the bigger asshole, but the two of them weren’t exactly horrible people at heart. Spencer was a good enough guy, although there had been some scandals throughout the Zone when it came to the women he had slept with over the years. Daryl had gathered enough information about the young man to know that he was a bit of a womanizer.

“At least you’re still allowed to be on guard duty,” Spencer told Aiden. “Mom was pretty pissed at you when you gave Denise some attitude while she was treating your leg after your last run.”

Aiden snorted, “I didn’t want her practising on me. Pete could have cleaned and bandaged me up in five minutes. She was taking too long.”

“She’s  _ learning _ , Aiden,” Spencer shook his head. “We need to have more than one doctor and Pete might be an ass for not wanting to teach her at first, but mom and dad made sure that he knew he had to if he wanted to stay after the stunt he pulled with his wife.”

“She can learn when I’m not the one being treated,” Aiden insisted.

“That’s exactly the words that got you grounded for a week,” Aaron interjected as he and Daryl approached the brothers who were standing by the gate.

Aiden rolled his eyes, “Whatever man. Mom knows that I’m the best guard inside these walls. That’s why she had me stay when Heath and his team went out.”

“Is that what she told you to make you feel better?” Spencer laughed at his brother. “We know that I’m the better guard between the two of us.”

Daryl watched as the brothers began bickering. He looked at Aaron who shook his head and rolled his eyes at their childish behavior.

“So which one outta you keep watch in the tower?” Daryl asked, tired of listening to them bicker.

The brothers paused, looking at one another and then turning to Daryl. “Neither of us does,” Aiden admitted, looking kind of sheepish now.

Daryl narrowed his eyes at them. “Seems kinda stupid, don’t it? That ya’ll are s’posedly the best an’ yet none of ya get the most important position of security,” he said.

Spencer cleared his throat, “Actually, no one keeps guard there… We’ve thought about putting up a nightwatch, but we don’t have enough volunteers. Instead, we just rotate guard here at the gate and have people walk the wall sometimes.”

“That ain’t good enough,” Daryl shook his head, but before he could continue, he spotted Beth approaching them together with Jessie. The two of them stopped a little further off, said something to one another and then Jessie stepped forward, hugging Beth. He watched as Beth hesitantly patted the other woman’s back and then offered her a smile as she walked off in the other direction. Beth turned back toward them and started walking to them.

“Hey,” Beth said, coming to stand next to him. He could tell by the look on her face that she too had found flaws in the Zone.

“Hi,” Daryl responded, fighting the urge to lean into her.

“You ready to head back to the house?” Beth asked, looking at him. “I wanna stop by Deanna’s for a bit first. Need to ask her a few things.”

“Mhm… Just ‘bout ready,” Daryl nodded. He couldn’t wait to get away from Aiden and Spencer. There were things that he and Beth needed to talk about in private regarding what they were going to do. Should they really bring the rest of their family here? Was it really as simple as training some people and fixing the lack of security? He wasn’t sure, but he knew that he needed to hear Beth’s opinion on it all. Food was running scarce back on the farm and he knew they didn’t have much of a choice. Should they give up the search for a better place for now and then start looking again after Maggie has had her baby? Or should they just come here and try to deal with things and make them better?

Daryl looked at the brothers again and he couldn’t help but notice how Spencer’s eyes moved over Beth. She was still looking at him though, so she didn’t seem to notice. Yet, it annoyed Daryl and he reached down to take Beth’s hand, trying to get the younger man to see that she was taken. Spencer didn’t seem to notice though, so Daryl looked over at Aaron instead. The man had an annoyed look on his face as well and Daryl knew that he could see exactly what Daryl was seeing.

“You comin’ with us?” Daryl asked Aaron, offering the man a way to get away from Aiden and Spencer.

“Yeah,” Aaron nodded, looking grateful. “I should talk to Deanna too about some of the things you pointed out. If you guys decide to stay here then we might as well get started on securing this place.”

Daryl curtly nodded at him and he didn’t say anything to the two brothers as he put his arm around Beth’s shoulder and started leading her away. Beth turned into him and he could feel her smiling against his shirt as she reached for his side and pinched him there. He couldn’t help but smile a bit, looking down at her and she laughed lightly before shaking her head at him. Still, the gnawing feeling inside his stomach didn’t completely fade, no matter how much he tried to push his doubt away.

-§-

Beth listened as Aaron told Deanna some of the problems that Daryl had pointed out with the Safe Zone. It seemed that both of them had noticed the lack of security and Beth was happy that Daryl actually took his time to explain how things could be done better. She recognized some of the strategies from back on the farm and others he shared were really just logical. However, Beth knew that it wasn’t exactly surprising that Deanna herself hadn’t thought of the improvements since she had never been outside of the walls. She hadn’t been forced to live with the walkers the way that Beth, Daryl and their family had, but that was why she wanted them to join their community, wasn’t it? At least that had been what she had told them, so Beth hoped that she wasn’t taking their suggestions the wrong way.

“Your view on things are different,” Deanna said with just a hint of a smile. “I have to say, I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting people as extraordinary as you two. Perhaps it’s because you were out there for so long… You’ve survived things, I can tell.”

“We’ve managed,” Beth said, but she knew that they had done so much more. She might not be able to remember every little piece of the things they had gone through, but she knew that just since digging herself out of her grave, she had faced a lot of dangers and made it through them.

The short, impromptu meeting wrapped up but before she could follow Daryl and Aaron out the door, Deanna stopped her.

“I have to say, Ms. Greene, that you and Mr. Dixon sure are an odd couple,” she said.

Beth wondered briefly whether she should take it as an insult, but she could see it in the woman’s eyes that she hadn’t meant any harm with her statement. “I’m sure those are the only ones left in the world,” Beth said, looking toward Daryl and Aaron who were waiting on her by the front door. She could see that they were discussing something on their own, so she figured staying behind a few more minutes to talk to Deanna wouldn’t hurt.

“Daryl and I were alone for a while and then we were separated,” she told the older woman. “I was taken by some bad people and… When Daryl found me again, I was shot.” Beth lifted her head, showing Deanna the circular scar beneath her chin. The woman’s eyes widened and she gasped, clearly never having seen such a thing before. Beth couldn’t blame here; it was difficult to believe that someone had been shot in the head and then somehow miraculously survived. Yet, here she was, living proof that it could happen.

“I, eh… I forgot about him,” Beth said, brushing her hair back. “He thought I was dead and I lost my memories. I didn’t know who I was or anythin’.”

“But he found you again,” Deanna said. “You were reunited.”

“Yeah,” Beth nodded, smiling a little as she remembered how difficult it had been in the beginning. From the way that he had avoided her to the way that she had felt drawn to him without any explanation. “He and the rest of my family stumbled upon the place I was staying with my friend Morgan. It took a while before I realized what he meant to me, but we’re here now. I understand that it might be a strange sight to some.”

“I’m sure some of our older residents might have an opinion or two, but that doesn’t matter,” Deanna said. “I can see that you two care deeply about one another and nothing will stand in the way of you two here. In fact, I don’t know whether you’ve talked about it yet, but staying here could mean having a future which might be impossible outside of these walls.”

For a moment Beth thought about what the future that Deanna was talking about meant. She imagined herself and Daryl in their little house, waiting on their kids to get home from school so that they could take them hunting together. It made her throat feel thick and her heart race.

“Thank you for being so understanding,” Beth said, looking at Deanna who once again smiled at her.

“Trust me, Beth,” she said, “understanding is the least I can be when I see good people trying to find a place for their family.”

-§-

Daryl removed his shirt as Beth pulled back the covers on the bed, stretching and yawning before laying down. He looked at her through the mirror, throwing the shirt over a chair before sitting on the bed and removing his boots. She looked tired, exhausted even, and a part of him worried that she still hadn’t recovered enough from the illness she had caught while they had been on the road.

“How ya feelin’?” he asked, taking off his socks, rolling them together and placing them next to his boots. He stood up again and unbuckled his belt, turning to look at Beth as he pulled off his pants, putting them on the same chair where he had thrown his shirt earlier.

“I’m good,” Beth said, but her voice was a little hoarse. “I just can’t help but think about these people,” she admitted. Daryl left his wife-beater on and his boxers, lifting the covers so that he could lay down next to her. Beth rolled onto her side so that she could face him, her head resting on the pillow as she snuggled up into his chest.

“What ‘bout them?” Daryl wondered.

“They’re all just sheep, waiting to be slaughtered,” she said quietly. He agreed, of course. Some of the things that he had seen today with their lack of security made them easier targets. It shouldn’t be that way because they had a good place that they could protect, but unfortunately, no one had the experience to do so. “I just can’t help but feel like I wanna save them,” Beth continued, making him look at her. He frowned, not really sure if it was worth risking their life for strangers who might not do the same for them.

“Why?” he asked her, figuring it was better to be straightforward.

“There are so few humans left, Daryl,” Beth said. “So few of us are still alive and we need more people. Our survival depends on it.”

“What do ya wanna do then?” he wondered.

“We’ve already talked to Deanna about possible improvements… She’s been open to our suggestions so far,” Beth said. “If we get a better security net and enforce the walls even more, this place could actually make it.”

“Ya wanna stay?” Daryl questioned and Beth frowned at him.

“You don’t?” she wondered. “If you didn’t already care, you wouldn’t have wasted time talking to Deanna today and giving her suggestions, Daryl.”

“Yeah, but that don’t mean I’m ready to bring out family here, Beth,” Daryl countered.

“So we stay just a bit longer,” Beth told him. “A week or two at most. Then we make a decision, together.”

“It’s already been a month since we left the farm,” Daryl reminded her. “Maggie will be gettin’ ready to pop pretty soon. How are we gonna bring her here if she can’t travel?”

Beth sighed, “I don’t know…” He could see the disappointment in her eyes, and he wanted to make her feel better. They couldn’t stay here for two more weeks because they needed to make sure that Maggie wasn’t going to give birth on the road. That could be the end of both her and her baby.

“We stay for one week,” Daryl conceded. “Then we head back to our family. If we think this place is gonna hold up an’ decide to bring ‘em back here, we’ll take Aaron with us.”

Beth’s sad face instantly lifted into a smile and she cupped his cheeks as she leaned forward, pressing her lips against his. Daryl kissed her back softly, sighing against her as Beth pulled back and moved so that she could turn around. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her body back against his own, her back resting against his chest.

He drew a deep breath and closed his eyes, his thumb brushing over Beth’s knuckles as his own tiredness finally set in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Remember, reviews are golden! Thank you so much for reading and supporting me!
> 
> I'm actually starting a novel now in November for NaNoWriMo. Really excited about it, but I am a bit nervous too. I'll be doing it for fun, but hopefully, I'll manage to complete it before the deadline! A lot of things to balance with school too but somehow I'll make it, I'm sure! ;)
> 
> Once again, thank you so much for reading and don't forget to leave a comment and share your thoughts! xx

**Author's Note:**

> Oh, a road trip! Who's excited! I know for a fact that I am, haha! :P
> 
> Now, some quick information on this sequel. You already know the title now, so I don't have to repeat it. The story will be shortened "Breath" though, when I mention it on tumblr or twitter (you can follow me there if you'd like for regular updates on what's happening!). As you may have noticed, there is a pattern in the titles too. In The Blink Of An Eye referred to how quickly Daryl had lost Beth, and then the second part of the title referred to Daryl "hearing her beating heart" towards the end. Or more likely, it was Beth pleading with him to hear it... Wow, got side-tracked. As I was saying, the title pretty much gives away one of the themes of this story.
> 
> Speaking of Breath, it will unfortunately be a little shorter than Blink was (around 15 chapters and an epilogue). I've planned it all out and it will be focusing entirely on Beth and Daryl and have faith in me and hang in there, even when things get tough. The chapters will be approximately this length too, but it may vary sometimes. And I'll do my best to update regularly, but I haven't yet finished the second chapter, but I'm gonna try my best to go with once a week until the story is completely finished!
> 
> And now, it's your turn! Tell me what you thought of the chapter and please be kind! I'm in need for some cheering up because I haven't been feeling the best these last couple of days (My immune system sucks. I swear I'll be the first to go if a Zombie Apocalypse does happen. Probably from a bug or something.)!
> 
> Thank you so much for reading and don't forget to show your support! It's motivation to write! :) xx


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